


Percy Jackson: The Missing Hero

by rosa_petalis



Series: The Chaos Chronicles [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Multi, Not Canon Compliant - The Trials of Apollo, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-The Heroes of Olympus, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 61
Words: 244,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25826296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosa_petalis/pseuds/rosa_petalis
Summary: Percy had never asked to be a demigod. It was a fact that he had maintained ever since he’d made the discovery that he was a demigod all of those years ago.He’d been pursued for years by Prophecy after Prophecy, each one greater than the last. Now, Percy’s biggest desire is peace; to be able to relax and have a chance to spend time with family and friends.Unfortunately, The Fates seem to have different plans.Again.(Crossposted on Wattpad.)
Relationships: (Former) Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Apollo/Percy Jackson, Clarisse La Rue/Chris Rodriguez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Silena Beauregard/Charles Beckendorf
Series: The Chaos Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023535
Comments: 118
Kudos: 162





	1. Percy Jackson, The Missing Hero.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the original version of this way back in 2013, when I was a lot younger and involved in the Percy Jackson fandom on Wattpad. It was under the name 'chococookie1607' and is currently being reposted under the name '-rose-petals'.
> 
> Several years later and I'm trying to get back into the writing game and figured why not try my hand at rewriting my old work; a simple job really... It has more than doubled in length and I have absolutely no regrets.
> 
> This is my life now.

Nathan Burns.

Perhaps a simplistic name, especially when shortened to the owner’s preferred ‘Nat’, but the name of someone who Percy vehemently disliked.

Disliked to such an extent that he had one simple wish when it came to Nathan ‘Nat’ Burns.

He wished that he had the type of personality and lack of consciousness to bring about the downfall of the boy, in a painful and twisted manner, but refrained as it was simply not part of his character. Although, Nathan was swiftly pushing the boundaries of Percy’s self-made rule involving a lack of desire to hurt any demigod that he had no reason to fight.

However, some may have argued in his favour that Nathan certainly gave him a reason to fight, as often when the question was raised as to what Nathan had done, they would respond with a definitive ‘everything’. When scoffed at and asked if it were a mere exaggeration, they would swiftly retort that it was the truth, that Nathan had certainly attempted to sabotage the best parts of Percy’s life, along with the parts that already lay in tatters.

It had been constant over the long six weeks that he had been present at Camp, with Percy muttering darkly on more than one occasion that he wished to part Nathan’s head from his shoulders, but never fulfilled the action. Even when he had been claimed by Poseidon, announcing that he had been important enough for the god to have broken the Oath for a second time, this time ‘for a proper hero’.

Percy winced at the thought of his father. Poseidon. He had been different the last few times Percy had seen him, so different that he hadn’t even reacted to Percy playfully addressing him as ‘Lord Poseidon’, nodding blankly as if it were perfectly normal for Percy to address him as such, instead of the ‘dad’ they had recently progressed to. When summoned to camp by Zeus, he had been proud to admit that Nathan was his son, eyes passing over Percy as if he were a ghost.

Percy hadn’t spoken to him since, choosing to keep his distance whenever he saw him around camp with Nathan. He often wondered now if Poseidon regretted meeting his mom and having him, if his dad would have preferred for Nathan to be his Hero of Olympus. He wished for it not to be true, but it was still a present fear in the back of his mind, with Poseidon doing nothing to alleviate such fears.

He’d presented a happy façade to his mom and Paul, pretending that all was well at camp, relaying false tales of triumphant games of Capture the Flag and joyful campfires. In truth, he hadn’t participated in Capture the Flag, nor had he attended the campfire since before Nathan’s arrival. He kept the truth a secret, not wishing to alarm or worry either of them. His mom still worried that Hera would spirit him away again for an unprecedented amount of time, telling nobody his whereabouts. Silently, he almost wished for the goddess to do such a thing as it would take him away from camp and Nathan for at least a few months.

Camp. He winced yet again, staring up at the roof of his Cabin. Dionysus was ignoring him again, but it was nothing new. But the fact that Chiron had been unmistakably distant with him was new, and it was something that he found almost intolerable. The centaur had been his mentor since he was twelve, believing in him when nobody else had. His distance hurt, especially when Percy attempted conversation with him, which only led to furtive glances as their stilted conversation occurred, as if the centaur was nervous about who could possibly see or hear them speaking to one another. His responsibilities had been inexplicably cut, gradually over the first three weeks before a sudden and complete reduction to the barest necessities from a Cabin head. He feared that soon, that position would also be taken from him. It wasn’t so much the responsibility being taken that hurt, but the alienation from his fellow campers, the fact that he could no longer help guide and instruct the younger kids who respected him for what he taught them, not because he was a war hero.

His friends too, how he missed his friends. First and foremost, Annabeth had always been his friend, and then a lover. Now, she was as distant as Chiron. As the longest-serving member of Camp, she always met anyone new who crossed the borders, which, unfortunately, included Nathan. Nathan, who had charmed her with casual quotations from some of Annabeth’s favourite novels, followed by intimate discussions of characters, symbolism and other such topics that Percy wasn’t able to comprehend. He saw her by chance, usually when she stopped by his and Nathan’s silent dinner table to ask Nathan something about a novel with an author whose name Percy could barely pronounce.

He’d charmed the rest of his friends too, both expected and unexpected. He held the grudging respect of Clarisse who had taken to muttering the words ‘toilet water’ whenever she passed Percy, despite their state of truce that bordered on ridiculous friendship. With Nathan onside, it had become an all-out war, with his half-brother making snide, encouraging remarks whenever Clarisse and Percy somehow ended up sparring. After a particularly crude comment from Nathan when Percy had ended up on the floor again, he had stood and simply left the arena, seeking out those who had simply scoffed at Nathan’s presence and taken Percy further under their wing.

Thalia and Grover had been furious on his behalf, Grover persuading the nymphs to play their tricks on Nathan while Thalia threatened to raise Hell when she was next at camp. As Lord of the Wild, Grover was rather persuasive, and Percy had seen Nathan covered in leaves on more than one occasion. He’d also made a passing comment about Nathan ‘smelling funny’, which he’d decided to remember. Thalia, although away with the Hunters, had other ways to carry out her business. Oddly, Leo had been quite vehement in his protection of Percy, keeping him company whenever he wasn’t busy in the forge with his siblings. Then there was Nico. 

Nico had barged into his Cabin about five minutes after that IM call ended, declaring that he was ‘a living embodiment of Hell’ and that Thalia had sent him. After several days in the infirmary under Will Solace’s watchful eyes, Nico had been recalled to the Underworld by his father to help with the influx of spirits caused by the Giant War. He’d returned at Thalia’s insistence, muttering about ‘scary women’ as he gave Percy a nervous smile and an offer of genuine friendship. Several insults about the Underworld and its inhabitants later, Nathan had a broken nose and Nico was refusing to go to the infirmary for an ice pack.

Leo had gone for him, feigning a burn to the hand, which everyone knew he couldn’t receive. He’d returned triumphant, however, giving Nico a gentle smile as he handed it over. After escaping on Festus, Leo had been missing from camp for a long three weeks, presumed dead by all. He’d returned shaken and quiet, refusing to talk to the majority of people. He was still searching for something, however, disappearing on long weekends and sometimes for weeks. After the first time someone had pressed too hard for an answer, nobody asked him where he went. Until Nathan. The idiot had asked too much, pressed too hard, and then finally insulted too much. Leo had seared his eyebrows off, along with burning every item of clothing that Nathan had possessed. Percy had walked into the Cabin 3 to find him contemplating Nathan’s bed and had given him advice on how to shift the blame and Leo had cracked a smile for the first time in weeks.

The loyalty that Percy had offered to his friends and fellow campers was not reciprocated, forcing him to, for the first time since he had returned Zeus’ bolt, re-evaluate whether he truly belonged at the camp. He was well aware of the fact he had been nicknamed ‘the Pawn of Olympus’ for years by a few of the more cynical campers, but it was the first time that he felt as if that was all he was.

Percy lay there for a moment or two longer before rolling out of his bunk, his decision made.

He was leaving.

  
  



	2. A New Adventure.

Percy was reluctant to cross the borders, turning to survey the camp for a final time when he reached Thalia’s tree. He had no intentions of returning, not while Nathan was still an active presence within the camp. Careful not to disturb the sleeping dragon, he reached over Peleus’ scaly hide to press his hand against the tree, praying for luck.

Then he stepped over the border, a chill running down his spine. He questioned his decision for a moment before shaking his head, as if to clear it, and continued to walk forward. His one regret was not saying goodbye to Grover, Nico and Leo, at least not in person. Notes hidden beneath his pillow now seemed impersonal, but he was well aware that they would either try to persuade him to stay or offer to accompany him. Percy would have been weak to such an offer, but objectively he knew that it would be unfair to drag them along when he didn’t even know where he was going himself. His mom and Paul’s apartment was a fairly lucrative prospect, as Percy knew that they would want to know that he was safe, but he also had to consider that it would likely be the first place anyone looked for him. If anyone looked at all.

For a moment he considered Alaska or some other land that was beyond the gods, wanting nothing more than to escape, to get away. It would be a fresh start, a chance to be something new.

He walked on, heading up towards the road when there was a sharp burst of light, momentarily blinding him, dark spots dancing in his eyes. The chill crept up his spine yet again as there was a sudden rumble of thunder, not making logical sense when there wasn’t a cloud in the dark sky.

“Perseus Jackson.” Two voices sounded, his vision clearing. Unfortunately, they were two voices that he recognised.

“What, you’re going to tell me that I can’t leave?” Percy glared at them. “You need me to fulfil the next Great Prophecy?”

Zeus sighed, scowling at the ground in favour of looking at Percy, an expression of pure distaste on his face. Percy was well aware of the god’s dislike of him, knowing how fond Zeus was on putting forth a vote on ‘should we kill Percy Jackson’ every Solstice. Thankfully, he was yet to succeed.

“We need you to do a favour for us, Perseus,” Hades stated dryly, looking the epitome of boredom. “And no, it is not fulfilling the next Prophecy. Yet.”

“Why, would the God of the Skies and the God of the Underworld, want  _ me,  _ the son of the Sea God, to do  _ them  _ a favour?” Percy huffed, not caring anymore about offending them. “Why should I do you a favour anyway?”

“Well Perseus, you have absolutely nothing left.” Hades gave him a chilling smile, hitting exactly where it hurt. “Why wouldn’t you?”

Percy’s expression darkened. “I’m perfectly aware of that fact,  _ Uncle.  _ You don’t need to remind me.”

“I was stating a simple fact we all know to be true.” Hades merely shrugged. “You've lost everything Perseus. We can give you something back.”

“All of your gifts come with a price,” Percy responded with a shake of the head. “I don’t think I want to find out what that price is.”

“You’ve already paid the price, Perseus,” Hades smirked. “You would have to lose everything, and well, you already have. You’re the perfect candidate.”

“Candidate for  _ what _ ?” Percy regarded them with suspicion, still concerned that Zeus was yet to say a word.

“Lord Chaos needs an army, Perseus, and it seems that you are the most suitable for the job. In his opinion.” Zeus responded with a lofty sigh. “I personally do not understand  _ why  _ he would want  _ you,  _ but I have a feeling that he has a soft spot for the outcasts.”

“Zeus, dear, there really is no reason to be so nasty to the boy.” An omniscient voice drawled. Percy uncapped Riptide, the pen having been in his hand since he had come face to face with his uncles.

“Chaos, there’s no need to continue lurking in the shadows.” Zeus huffed. “I have quite enough of Hades doing that. Please join us.”

“Honestly Zeus, you ruin everything.” Chaos stated, the outline of a man shimmering and starting to form from the darkness surrounding them.

“Well, you must blame my wife for that habit.” Zeus snapped in response, Percy wincing at the thought of Hera, but honestly wondered whether or not Zeus was being sarcastic.

“I thought that you had a lovely wife?” Chaos raised an eyebrow. Percy resisted the urge to laugh.

“Do not mention my wife.” Zeus hissed, shuddering.

“Should you be speaking to the Creator of the Universe like that?” Percy couldn’t resist commenting, quietly thankful that he had listened to Annabeth discussing the origins of the universe with Nathan the other evening.

“Nobody asked for your opinion, Perseus.” Zeus snarked, voice cold.

“Brother, he does have a point you know.” Hades stated, giving Percy a frightening smile. Percy gave a weak one in response.

“I’m going back to my wife.” Zeus huffed. “Have fun explaining everything to your favourite nephew,  _ brother. _ ” He disappeared with a flash of lightning, thunder rolling ominously overhead.

“He would be far more suited to the role of God of the Theatre, his flair for the dramatics is unparalleled.” Chaos mused before his gaze fixated upon Percy. “Hello, Perseus.”

“Hello?” Percy wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “I prefer Percy, though. My uncle here cannot seem to remember that.”

“Oh hush nephew, I call you what I wish.” Hades rolled his eyes. “Be thankful that I am not calling you ‘mini Poseidon’, or ‘not Triton’.”

“Please don’t.” Percy winced. “I don’t call you ‘not Thanatos’ or ‘Bone Dude’, do I?”

“Would the pair of you cease your bickering?” Chaos interrupted before Hades could respond. “I’m trying to make a dramatic offer here.”

“Go ahead, don’t let us stop you.” Percy gestured for Chaos to go ahead, Hades subtly rolling his eyes.

“Join me, Perseus Jackson.” Chaos boomed. “You may not get this life back,” he flicked his hand towards camp. “But you shall gain another.”

“I’d give you an eight out of ten, but I was expecting a rumble of thunder, so I’m going to have to give you a seven-point five instead.” Percy stated dryly. “But, honestly, how can I trust you?”

“Seven point five? Interesting.” Chaos hummed before smiling kindly at him. “Think of a god that you trust.”

“Did you just say the words ‘god’ and ‘trust’ in the same sentence?” Percy blinked at him before laughing. “I don’t trust the gods. Not really. Poseidon, my father, I did once upon a time, but in recent weeks my trust in him has pretty much gone down the drain. Hades here, I’m extremely wary of, considering that he did want to kill me once. Or twice. Or maybe a few times? I’d like to  _ think  _ that I could trust him, but honestly, I’m unsure. Zeus, dearest uncle of mine, I can’t trust further than I can throw him. Ares? Biggest no-no there is. I don’t really know about Hermes. Sometimes it seems like he likes me, other times it seems like he blames me for not being able to save Luke. Aphrodite? She scares me. So no. Hephaestus-”

“Stop, please, I can’t bear to hear any more.” Chaos pinched the bridge of his nose. “I forgot how demigods have an affinity for rambling when you give them the opportunity.”

“This one would ramble until the cows come home if you let him,” Hades grumbled. “Some think it’s an endearing quality.”

Chaos snapped his fingers unexpectedly. “Ah, Hades, thank you for reminding me. Speaking of cows, what’s your opinion on Hera, Perseus?”

Percy, unable to resist, snorted. “Where do you want me to start?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh dear.” Hades sighed. “Here we go.”

“Well, for starters, she sent cows after my e- Annabeth for some bizarre reason to do with offerings and her alleged help. Then, when we - Annabeth, Thalia and I - were on Olympus trying to get to Kronos, Hera tried to drop a statue on Annabeth, but Thalia shoved her out of the way and it landed on her legs. After that, there was the whole incident where she stole me and Jason, wiped our memories and dumped us in opposite camps. But not even at the same time, so she stole a whole eight months of my life, meaning that not only did Camp Half-Blood think I was dead, but my mom, step-dad and dad did too. Not only that, she nearly ruined the entire thing by turning into her true form  _ in front of Jason,  _ which would have killed him completely if Piper hadn’t been able to  _ charmspeak  _ him back to life! What if Pipes didn’t have that ability? Would she have had to abduct another Roman and hope for the best? But then the Prophecy of the Seven would be in shambles, because it’d be the Prophecy of the  _ Six,  _ because the seventh hero would be six feet under. Not to mention that she messed around with Leo’s life when he was little. Who makes a kid cut up chilli peppers? Who also makes the same kid sleep in a fireplace? Who makes a kid sear his hands into a picnic table? An abusive goddess with a sick sense of curiosity, that’s who. Leo will barely speak about it all, so she may have done even worse. Oh, and if she didn’t do enough mucking around with childhoods, she literally kidnapped Jason and left him to be raised by wolves. Thalia thought her brother was dead and Jason didn’t know that he had a sister! Oh, and-”

“Okay, stop, please, I get the picture!” Chaos cut him off before he could continue. “I was expecting an anecdote, not a monologue.”

“I did warn you.” Hades rolled his eyes. “He would ramble until the cows come home. Sea cows in Perseus’ case, since he has just demonstrated why exactly he has a vendetta against normal cows.”

“They’re called manatees, not sea cows.” Percy corrected, crossing his arms. “They don’t like being called cows, it hurts their feelings.”

“Oh, well if it hurts their feelings, then we’re going to have to stop calling them ‘sea cows’.” Hades drawled, sarcasm tingeing every word.

“No bickering.” Chaos interrupted before Percy could issue a scathing retort. “Please. For a few more minutes, I beg of you.”

“All Perseus and I do is bicker.” Hades sighed, shaking his head. “But fine. Have your few minutes.”

“So, as we are definitely  _ not  _ trusting Hera, is there anyone who you do trust?” Chaos turned his gaze solely onto Percy. “God or otherwise?”

Percy stiffened for a moment, the obvious answers of  _ mom  _ and  _ Paul  _ flying through his mind. Both answers were to be expected, but he didn’t want to have to expose the two to this world, his world, more than he absolutely had to. Giving their names to Chaos, creator of the universe, would not be keeping them safe, even if Chaos already knew about them. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, cycling through other names instead.  _ Nico, Leo, Grover, Thalia.  _ He trusted the four of them wholeheartedly, even if some of his early interactions with them had been slightly sketchy, Nico in particular. Actually, Nico  _ especially.  _ He eyed Hades nervously, remembering the incident involving the River Styx.

“Perseus?” Chaos’ soft utterance broke Percy’s reverie, the demigod flinching as he recalled the question that had been asked of him.

“Trust, yeah.” Percy nodded, voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat and nodded again. “I trust people.”

“Perseus, are you always this obtuse?” Hades sighed. “Or are you just avoiding answering the question?”

“Why do you want to know who I still trust?” Percy fixed Chaos with a level stare. “I don’t want to tell you their names if you’re just going to do or say something that would lead to my trust in them, or their trust in me being broken.”

“Even after these past six weeks, loyalty is still one of your defining features.” Chaos smiled. “No, I merely ask in order to give a comparison to the trust you may find in me if you join me, to the trust you have in your friends.”

“Oh.” Percy blinked at him. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I was also going to ask Hades here if he would discreetly let them know of your safety, if you have not yet taken measures to do so?” Chaos raised an eyebrow.

“I left letters?” Percy frowned and shrugged. “For Nico, Thalia, Leo, and Grover. Nico, well, he sometimes lives with my mom and step-dad, so I asked him to pass on the message.”

“Nico?” Hades looked at him with newfound respect glinting in his eyes. “You trust my son?”

“I trust Nico with my life,” Percy confirmed. “The other three too, but Nico… Nico, I also trust with my family.”

“High praise.” Chaos tilted his head. “I’m sure that Hades would acquiesce to him joining us if you so wished?”

“No,” Percy spoke before Hades could open his mouth. “Nico still has reason to be here. I’m not about to be selfish.”

“I like this one.” Chaos nodded to Hades. “You chose well.”

“I’m still not entirely sure what I’m signing up for.” Percy admitted, glancing between the two. “Zeus mentioned something about an army?”

“Ah, yes.” Chaos nodded, adopting the same expression that had accompanied his ‘dramatic offer’ previously. “We are not alone in this universe, Perseus.”

“You know, with the different gods, monsters, and everything else I’ve seen over the past few years, I’m really  _ not  _ surprised.” Percy sighed and shook his head. “What does that have to do with an army though?”

“What is your knowledge of ‘Star Trek’, Perseus?” Chaos raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, the words sounding foreign on his tongue.

“Chris Pine is pretty.” Percy blurted out. Hades raised an eyebrow. “I was watching it with someone who was sad and he got sadder because apparently, Star Trek Chris Pine is his ‘type’ now that I’m apparently not.”

“That reveals far more about my son’s attraction to men than I wanted to know.” Hades wrinkled his nose. “You? I thought he had better standards.”

“Apparently, they  _ are  _ better now, because Chris Pine and other people who look like Chris Pine are his  _ type  _ now.” Percy huffed. “I have pretty eyes too.”

“Yes Jackson, I suppose that is one of your few redeeming qualities.” Hades sighed. “You have your father’s eyes.”

“Aside from Chris Pine’s attractive qualities, what else do you know about Star Trek?” Chaos interrupted.

“Bendersnap Crumplewaffle was in one of them?” Percy offered.

“Who?” Chaos blinked.

“Buffalo-wing Cucumberswitch?” Percy repeated.

“Sorry, please repeat that for me?” Chaos blinked yet again. “I’m not entirely sure that I am hearing you correctly.”

“The actor, the British one, Bilgesnipe Clumpernatch?” Percy rolled his eyes. “Curly hair, Smaug, Sherlock, Stephen Strange - aka Doctor Strange? He seems to have an affinity for names beginning with ‘S’, for some bizarre reason. Then if the character name doesn’t begin with an S, the show or movie has an S in the title.”

“Ah, Bertdick Cabbagepatch, why didn’t you just say?” Chaos nodded. “Yes, he is in it. But what else?”

“I think you should just get to the point before Apollo streaks across the sky,” Hades grumbled, looking up into the pitch-black sky. “Perseus is extremely obtuse at times.”

“The Federation, protecting the galaxy, making treaties between the planets. Boldly going where nobody has before!” Chaos grinned, seemingly delighted as he gestured wildly to the stars. “You would get to explore the galaxy with a hand-picked team, chosen by you and you alone.”

“Where exactly would I source a ‘hand-picked’ team?” Percy raised an eyebrow, glancing back to camp. “I highly doubt anyone would follow me from camp, much less want more adventure. A lot of them have had enough for a lifetime.”

“Exactly Perseus, a lifetime.” Chaos nodded. “But think of those heroes whose lifetimes were cut short. Those who reside in the Underworld, regretting what could have been, but never was. Those who were never able to prove themselves, able to change, able to fully fulfil the lives they gave up for a noble cause.”

“I’m not entirely sure what you’re saying here,” Percy confessed, biting his lip slightly as he looked to Hades for guidance.

“What Chaos is trying to say, nephew, is that I am opening the Doors for you.” Hades’ smile was dangerously close to being described as warm. “I hate for young lives to be wasted, so I agreed for you to fill the ranks of your army, your crew so-to-speak - if we are still using the Star Trek analogy - with the souls of whom you choose from the Underworld. However, I must warn that it is a one-time offer, so you must think and deliberate who you wish to offer an escape to. Choose carefully and choose wisely. The other gods of the Underworld would not be lenient if you wished to open the Doors time after time. It was difficult to persuade them to open them once.”

Percy was silent for a moment, names and faces flickering wildly through his mind. “When do I have to make the list?” His voice was a lot softer than he had expected, with a nervous quality to it. “Is there a time limit on how long I have to make it?”

“No limit,” Hades assured him. “If you agree to go, take a few days to settle and then take as long as you need to make the list.”

“How will I get the list to you?” Percy asked, confidence in the offer growing.

“Is that a yes?” Hades raised an eyebrow.

“I formally accept your offer.” Percy turned to Chaos and offered his hand. “It would be an honour to serve as your Commander.”

“It’ll be an honour to have you. Percy.” Chaos grinned at him, mischief dancing in his eyes. “An absolute honour.”

“When your list is complete, place it within this envelope and seal it with wax.” Hades produced an envelope from darkness, its edges curling and grey. “Press this into the wax.” He handed over a signet ring, stygian iron with Poseidon’s crest engraved. A trident, flanked by two seahorses. Percy tested the weight for a moment before slipping it onto the smallest finger on his left hand, mimicking where Hades wore his. “Anything you seal with that ring will be delivered straight to me if you ever want to contact anyone here.”

Percy nodded, slightly dumbstruck before recovering to respond. “Thank you.” He stated simply, next taking the envelope.

“Look after him, Lord Chaos, he has saved Olympus, twice, and reunited me with my brothers. He holds my gratitude for that.” Hades awkwardly hauled Percy in for a one-armed embrace. “But mention that to anyone, nephew, and I will ensure you spend eternity locked in a refrigerator filled with rotten fish,” he threatened as they parted.

“I won’t tell a soul.” Percy couldn’t help but laugh before stepping towards Chaos and nodding. “I think I’m ready.”

Chaos waved a hand, the air beside him rippling for a moment before changing to show the interior of a large library. “Come Perseus, Commander of the Army of Chaos.” He gestured, stepping through the doorway. The god turned, beckoning for him to follow. “We have much to discuss.”

Percy took a deep breath, a feeling of trepidation settling in his stomach. He looked to Hades one final time, relaxing somewhat when the god gave him what could pass as an encouraging smile. Then  he looked back on camp once more before turning and stepping through the doorway Chaos had created, stepping into a new adventure.

  
  



	3. 'It's Zeus, He's Done Something Stupid.'

Percy strode towards the double doors, purpose in his stride as he pushed them open. He surveyed the game room, eyes passing over the group of warriors present. His friends. “Heros!” He called out when his eyes fell upon a certain someone sat amongst the revelry. “Slacking from our duties again, are we?”

“Ah, our almighty Overlord has come to join the common folk!” Heros barked out a laugh, standing with a wide smile on his face as a cheer went up from the gathered group. “How can I slack from my duties when you refuse to give me any, aside from a command to relax?”

“I have told you numerous times that it is not I who answers to ‘almighty Overlord’, as that title belongs to the man above me.” Percy laughed, delighted. “I answer to  _ Percy. _ ”

“Well, Commander Caeruleum, I shall refuse to address you by your given name until you admit that you have come to join us in our relaxation after a successful mission.” Heros smirked. “As you came in here and addressed me by my ceremonial title, I guess that your visit is not for pleasure?”

“If I were to address you with your ceremonial title, I would address you as Lieutenant Heros, Lieutenant.” Percy corrected. “But, as I addressed you with just the latter half - which is your codename - you should realise that I am here for a mixture of work and pleasure.”

“Gods Percy, will you not just leave the paperwork and join us for one night?” Angelus called out, rolling her eyes. “Stop flirting with Luke and sit down.”

Percy couldn’t help but laugh at Luke’s pout. “We were in the middle of a moment, Bia, let us have our moment!” Luke cried out, sitting back in his vacated seat.

“ _ Thank you,  _ Bia, I was getting sick of their pretty name-calling.” Solani huffed, tossing a strand of hair over her shoulder.

“Zoë, it wasn’t  _ name-calling. _ ” Luke shook his head. “It’s our greeting, you interrupted our greeting.”

“Do you think I care?” Zoë raised an eyebrow.

Percy rolled his eyes and crossed the room, giving up on the idea of escaping anytime soon. He slipped into the empty seat on Luke’s left, the chair that they always left empty for him, accepting his fate.

“Joining us then?” Silena asked, melting all traces of formality in Percy’s mind, giving him a reason to drop the codenames. Silena was simply known as Dove in the field, a contrast to the many Latin names that Chaos had Percy hand out.

“What gave it away?” Percy laughed before nodding. “Yes, I’ll join you. The paperwork can wait until the third sun has risen.”

“Michael, I think our fearless leader requires medical attention!” Luke called out to the Son of Apollo. “The clone is malfunctioning.”

“That’s nice.” Michael hummed, not bothering to look up from his notebook. It seemed after all of their time together, he had grown used to the antics of the two - in fact, everyone had grown used to their antics once they had realised that the grudging truce between the two had transformed into a shining friendship.

Percy remembered the day it had changed vividly, for it had cemented their trust in one another. The reason why it had taken Percy so long to send his list of names to Hades was because he was unsure whether to give Luke a second chance at his life or to allow him to move on to rebirth and have a second chance at life altogether. Eventually, he had added Luke’s name to the list and sent it before he could scribble it out and deliberate for days on end. Again.

Unfortunately, their relationship was rocky from the offset, with Luke not believing that Percy hadn’t brought him back for an ulterior motive, and Percy found himself incapable of trusting a man that did not trust him.

Until the mission. Mission 4892, sealed in Percy’s records due to the private nature of what had happened on the surface of the planet Ra’lo’ic, the seventh planet in the Ra’ quadrant. It had been a short and fast mission that Chaos had assigned to him and Luke, swearing them to secrecy about it before they departed. It had no reason to go wrong, but when it did, it went wrong in a spectacular fashion. Percy had only escaped with his life because of Luke, and Luke had finally realised that Percy hadn’t brought him back to have the pleasure of killing him again after lulling him into a false sense of security.

Despite being covered in blood when he returned, open wounds still oozing, Percy had dragged himself to Chaos’ office despite Luke’s attempts to take him to the infirmary. At that moment, the position of Percy’s second-in-command, his Lieutenant, was yet to be filled. Percy had informed Chaos that it was to change, that Luke would be the holder of the position. 

Then naturally, he fainted.

Unbeknownst to Percy at the time - when he woke, a week had passed. He figured that it had only been a few hours, that the three suns that lit the sky had sunk into the sea for the night when he had found it to be dark outside. That’s what explained his isolation in the infirmary – usually, Michael would be hovering, waiting for him to wake up in order to scold him for ‘how in Apollo’s name did you get stabbed  _ again,  _ Percy?’ He figured if it was dark, someone had managed to drag Michael away to get some food or rest and he took full advantage of that, sliding out of bed because nobody was there to tell him no.

He immediately regretted that action when standing tugged on what were presumably stitches in his side, wincing as he let out a soft hiss. The fear of a disgruntled Michael materialising out of thin air had him stand still for a second before he slowly dragged himself out of the infirmary, snagging a few squares of ambrosia as he passed the nurse’s station. By the time he had reached the end of the corridor, the pain was gone, and he had felt much better.

Percy then remembered how he had happened across Luke pacing outside of The Great Hall as he took the long way to his bedroom, hoping to avoid the common room and thus any inhabitants who would tell Michael that his patient had escaped custody. Any hopes of Michael not finding out until morning had been dashed when Luke had promptly dragged him into the ceremony that had ended with Luke being given the title ‘Lieutenant Heros’, his first duty being to carry Percy back to the infirmary.

As he sat reminiscing, he couldn’t help but look around the room to see the people he had pulled from the Underworld, had waited for outside the Doors of Death as Hades sent the bewildered group through. He remembered the looks of confusion on their faces, as they looked around to see their fallen friends stood around them, mixed with a few unfamiliar faces with names that belonged to heroes of old. They had seen Percy and let out devastated cries – the ones who had known him well – until Bianca realised that they were no longer in the Underworld.

Explanations had taken hours, still stood outside the Doors. Percy had tried to avoid looking at them, memories of what had happened last time he was so close to them threatening to overwhelm him.

“Percy?” Luke’s questioning tone broke him out of his reverie. “You still with us?”

Percy shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Yeah, I’m still here. Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”

“We noticed.” Ethan snorted from across the room, where he was sat with Alabaster. Percy could only grin at them, thinking about how he was glad he had given people like Luke, Ethan, and Alabaster an opportunity to have a life outside of the influence of Kronos.

Percy was about to reply when the door swung open and Chaos entered the room.

Typically, the god had a smile permanently etched onto his face, something that always unnerved Percy slightly, though he would never say it to the man’s face. That smile was gone, grim line in its stead.

“Who died?” Percy asked, unable to stop himself. It was the question that he always asked whenever the god looked serious, as it was usually an accurate gauge of the situation. Sometimes there was just a threat of death, other times a death had caused an international incident on some far-off planet that they had to go and assist with the aftermath. 

Death was an almost constant factor.

“Nobody,” Chaos scowled, “yet.”

“Yet?” Luke spoke up. “So that means that there will be death?”

“Where’s my death warrant and who issued it this time?” Percy raised an eyebrow. Unfortunately, he wasn’t joking. It had happened before, usually following events when they had gone to planets with unstable governments and ironed out issues, only for the unstable party replaced to issue warrants for their deaths.

“It hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s likely that it’ll be issued five minutes into your encounter with the Council on Olympus.” Chaos responded.

It took a moment for it to sink in, all eyes going to Percy. His smile dropped from his face as he realised what Chaos’ words actually meant. They were going back.

“You’re kidding me, aren’t you?” He asked weakly. “Please tell me that you’re kidding and there actually is a warrant out for my head?”

Chaos just shook his head.

“I thought I wouldn’t be needed there until Zeus did something stupid or there was another world-ending prophecy that nobody else could sort out?” Percy pulled a face.

“About that…” Chaos looked sheepish. Percy preferred the unnerving smile.

“Wait, don’t tell me.” He held up a hand. “It’s Zeus. He’s done something stupid.”

“I didn’t know that you had psychic abilities dear, why didn’t you tell me?” Luke teased. “Or did you foresee me calling you an absolute idiot?”

Percy ignored him. “Who did Zeus have an affair with this time, and why does he need us to come and protect him from Hera?” He directed at Chaos.

“I can assure you, he did not have an affair.” Chaos’ smile was starting to return, and Percy’s nerves were suddenly heightened.

“Well, that’s hard to believe.” He continued to play casual. “So, what did he do? Kill Poseidon’s favourite son?” A bitter edge had crept into his tone. “If so, I’d say that he’s done the world a favour.”

“I think you’d notice if Zeus had murdered you.” Chaos responded tiredly.

“I said Poseidon’s favourite son.” Percy glared at him. “That is not me. Nor is it anyone else in this room right now. I think you need to go to an optician. You might be needing glasses in your old, old age.”

“I do not need to get my eyes tested, no matter how many times you say that I ‘wouldn’t notice a fact if it punched me in the face’. It’s an indisputable fact that you are Poseidon’s favourite.” Chaos argued.

“Luke said that.” Percy retorted. “And not only are you wrong, but you are also offending Orion.”

“I don’t take offence,” Orion called from across the room. The Orion from before his psychotic break, though he had retained his immense hatred of Apollo. It was a fact that was obvious simply from what Orion spent most of his evenings doing – what he was doing at that exact moment. Throwing darts at a dartboard with a picture of Apollo on. “Dad curses my constellation sometimes.”

“You’re not helping me prove my point here.” Percy pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Oh yes, I’m so offended.” Orion could not be taken seriously due to the grin that was etched across his face. “I’m offended, aren’t I Sirius?” The demigod cooed at his dog, the dog that he’d whined at Chaos about until the god had pulled the creature from the stars for him, just to shut him up. Sirius barked at the attention.

“It’s a miracle, you haven’t thrown a dart at Apollo for a full five minutes,” Zoë spoke up, voice dry.

“Dammit!” Orion huffed and swiftly threw five in quick succession.

“You really love him, don’t you?” Luke teased.

“Can we please get back to the point?” Chaos spoke before Orion could use Luke’s face as an alternative dartboard.

“This is why we usually have private meetings and I tell them stuff.” Percy pointed out. “They don’t listen to you.”

“I’ve noticed.” Chaos scowled.

“So, Olympus? Zeus  _ has  _ screwed up?” Percy asked.

“You have to go back.” Chaos nodded.

“And would you like to tell the class  _ why _ ?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“There is a slight issue.” Chaos responded delicately. “Involving Kronos and Gaia.”

“Tell me that they aren’t rising again.” Percy shook his head. If he was standing, he would have backed away from him. This was something that he seriously did not want to be hearing right now.

“I can’t.” Chaos winced. “I would have to lie to you.”

“It can’t be true.” Percy was on the verge of despair. “Kronos was too far spread, sorry Luke, to reform, and Gaia was lulled back to sleep – she shouldn’t wake for many millennia, or at all.”

“I don’t know what  _ possessed  _ me when it came to Kronos, but I’m not going to cry in a ball every time he’s mentioned,” Luke responded to his apology with the stupidest grin on his face.

Many of them, Ethan and Alabaster included, just groaned at his statement.

“So we thought.” Chaos ignored Luke to reply to Percy. “However, it seems that there is a new group rising, one who wants to raise both the Titian and the Earth Mother.”

“I hate cults.” Percy scowled. “Why can’t they want to raise something fun from the dead?”

“You can never raise anything fun from the dead, Perce,” Bianca spoke up.

“I raised you lot, didn’t I?” Percy retorted.

“Hades let us out of the Doors of Death, that’s different,” Bianca argued.

“How would a cult be powerful enough to raise two of the most powerful beings the Earth has seen?” Percy asked, realising that there was obviously information being held back here. “And why can’t Olympus handle one cult?”

“They think that there is a higher power playing around.” Chaos admitted, and Percy felt a shiver down his spine. “And they can’t figure out who is in the cult – they think that they’ve infiltrated Camp Half-Blood where they can try to influence the younger campers who would be more susceptible to joining. A lot of the older campers who saw both wars split their time between the two camps, gaining an education in New Rome.”

“So the gods want us to infiltrate Camp then?” Percy asked. “Figure out what’s going on for them, so that they can execute the perpetrators and take all of the glory?”

“Yes, they want you to go to Camp but Zeus assures me that no glory will be stolen.” Chaos rolled his eyes. “Look, he asked for you to help and said he’d leave you alone afterwards if you can just find the idiots behind it.”

“Do we have to find the higher power too?” Luke asked, eyeing Chaos nervously.

“The higher power isn’t your problem right now.” Chaos brushed him off and Percy felt slightly odd again. He didn’t like it when Chaos tried to divert their attention on issues.

“I can guarantee that it will become an issue,” Luke argued.

“We’ll address that if it does.” Chaos shrugged. “Orion, I still want you to take a team on that mission we discussed.”

Orion gave Percy a  _ look  _ before beaming at Chaos. “I figured we’d still be going.” He responded. 

“I want them on Earth as soon as they’re done,” Percy spoke up, not liking the idea of splitting the group in two. Especially when they were going into a situation partly blind.

“You can have Orion.” Chaos nodded.

“I want them all,” Percy argued.

“I’ll need them for something here.” Chaos shook his head.

“Well the more of us there are, the quicker we’ll get the job done.” Percy pointed out. “So I’d prefer it if all of Orion’s team came with him once they are done.”

“Orion, ready your team.” Chaos ordered. “The sooner you leave, the sooner I can send you to Percy.”

“I’ll see you on Earth Perce, yeah?” Orion smiled at him.

“See you on Earth.” Percy smiled back as Orion unhooked the dartboard and carried it out with him.

“He’s genuinely taking it with him.” Luke marvelled.

“We’re keeping him away from Apollo on Earth,” Percy stated before turning his attention back to Chaos. “Speaking of – when do we have to go?”

“Now.”

The dark shadow that had surrounded each of them dissipated, leaving them standing in front of the Olympian Council. Whatever Chaos had done to get them there also involved him arming them and changing them into their armour – cloaks on with hoods up and half masks covering their eyes. Bags lay at their feet and Percy internally cursed Chaos for not giving them time to pack and ready themselves, despite the fact he had clearly done it for them.

Percy glanced to his right where Zoë was at his shoulder.

‘Dam, Chaos works quickly.’ She mouthed, winking. The joke was still running after all of these dam years.

  
  



	4. Olympus

The group’s attention was turned to thirteen mystified faces when someone cleared their throat. A swift mental calculation had Percy realising that they had just dropped into the middle of the Summer Solstice meeting and the gods did not look too pleased about the intrusion.

“And who might you be?” Zeus sniffed, glaring at them. 

Percy thought that he would have guessed, considering that he had apparently asked for them. Apparently, Zeus hadn’t grown a brain since his departure.

“You requested our presence.” Percy swept into a mocking bow, attempting to keep his voice as monotone as possible. “My Lord Zeus. I did not know that you were ever capable of asking for help, let alone  _ my  _ help.”

A look of realisation slowly dawned upon Zeus’ face, the glare swiftly returning. “You.” He uttered the singular word, looking utterly unimpressed.

“Me.” Percy nodded, resisting the urge to laugh.

“Behave.” Luke murmured behind him. “I’d appreciate not getting fried,  _ please. _ ”

“When my dearest brother informed me that he had requested your assistance, I did not think that you would come,” Hades smirked at him. “I thought you’d be dragged back kicking and screaming, if anyone did manage to drag you back.”

“Unfortunately, he didn’t give me much time to protest.” Percy huffed. “He just transported us here after giving us minimal information.”

“Would you perhaps like to inform the rest of the Council what is going on?” Athena spoke up, glaring at Zeus and Hades.

“Yeah, would someone like to tell us what the fuc-“

“Ares, language!” Hera cut him off.

“Sorry mother.” Ares huffed.

“Don’t call me ‘mother’ in that patronising, lazy tone.” Hera snapped.

“Sorry,  _ mom. _ ” Ares glared at her.

“Don’t call me ‘mom’ either.” Hera glared back as the council erupted into noise.

Hades had moved out of his throne when the two had started bickering, shrinking down in size as he walked until he was stood before me.

“Am I missing something?” Percy asked, gesturing discreetly at the conspicuous absence beside Zeus. “Fourteen thrones, only thirteen of them occupied?”

“The thirteenth and fourteenth belong to Hestia and me,” Hades explained swiftly. “We don’t have official places on the council, but Zeus likes to keep us all closer now. As for Poseidon…” Hades noticeably winced. “It’s been five years to the day that it was discovered you were missing and presumed dead. Despite it being the Summer Solstice, he never shows until about halfway through the meeting, says he’s busy mourning.”

“Why?” Percy was confused and rather taken back. “He doesn’t care about me, I thought he’d find it easier knowing that I was dead and couldn’t do anything to upset Nathan.”

“We’ll speak later.” Hades warned, retreating back to his throne in time for the bickering to cease.

“I need someone else to speak.” Percy turned to the group. “I don’t trust myself right now, and I doubt Luke wants to interact with them?”

“Gods no.” Luke shuddered. “The slightest slip up on my part could lead to all of us dying. One of them would no doubt recognise me, and I fear that more than one of them would like nothing more than to beat me into a bloody pulp.”

“Hermes wouldn’t.” Percy pointed out softly.

Luke stiffened slightly. “Hermes is different.” He muttered.

“They’re going to need a reason to trust us, Zeus’ word isn’t enough.” Percy bit his lip. “They’re bickering now, they’ll probably end up deciding that  _ we  _ are the cult if we don’t tread carefully.”

“Well one of us is going to have to take this off.” Bianca gestured at her mask. 

“I’ll do it,” Castor spoke up.

“You will?” Percy looked at him.

“I’d love to give Olympus a shock to see the dead walking,” Castor smirked before sobering. “I don’t think I’d be able to last long at camp without my dad and brother knowing that I’m alive.”

“Okay.” Percy nodded. “That’ll work. Anyone else want to talk with him?”

There were multiple responses of ‘no’ and shakes of the head.

They turned back, Castor slipping around people to stand by Percy.

“Are you done with your little huddle?” Zeus raised a brow.

“Are you done with your bickering?” Percy retaliated.

“Can we  _ please  _ get on with this? Zeus won’t let me go back to reading my magazine until you brats talk.” Dionysus brandished his wine magazine at them.

“Zeus asked for our assistance with the little cult problem you have,” Castor spoke up. “We’re a team of demigods who usually work off-planet sorting out galactic affairs, but we’ve come home to help with this issue.”

“And why should we trust you?” Athena asked.

“Zeus wouldn’t ask for our help if he didn’t trust us,” Castor responded. 

“Yes, but who  _ are  _ you?” Dionysus asked, staring at him. “You’re all wearing those stupid masks.”

“We’re people that nobody is looking for anymore. We were all buried years ago.” Castor smiled sadly. “You lit my pyre with my brother.”

Dionysus dropped his magazine out of shock.

Castor reached up and pushed his hood back, taking away his mask. “Commander Caeruleum brought us back from the Underworld five years ago and we’ve been living the years we didn’t get to have since.”

“Castor?” Dionysus rose shakily.

For a man with an affinity for running shoes and shorts, he sure didn’t put them to use as he walked towards Castor, shrinking down to a mortal size so that he could hug his son.

Percy watched as each of the gods looked intently at the members of the group, hope in their eyes. He nudged Luke, discreetly nodding towards Hermes who was desperately searching the group with his eyes. Luke firmly shook his head and started staring at the ground.

“We’d prefer to leave for Camp Half-Blood before dark, if possible.” Percy finally brought himself to speak again. “Yes, some of you have children in this room, but please be respectful of their wishes to remain anonymous at this moment in time. Some of us don’t know if our parents want to see us, and we don’t want to test that.”

“We shall all accompany you to Camp Half-Blood.” Zeus stood. “Announce that you are there as our guests. We’ll fabricate some camp games for you to get involved in and give a reason for Artemis’ Hunters and delegates from New Rome to visit.”

Percy nodded, accepting the plan. He steeled himself in preparation.

To Camp Half-Blood they all prepared to go.

  
  



	5. Poseidon.

Percy nearly laughed at the sheer irony of the fact that he landed in the exact spot he had stood and said his goodbye in when the group teleported to camp. The very spot he had never intended to stand in again. However, he was here, stood atop the hill and looking over his old home. He felt as if the Fates were conspiring against him.

“Come, we shall explain your presence to Chiron and he can help us figure out a plausible cover story.” Zeus huffed, looking past him to eye Festus and the Fleece with disdain. “I’d rather not alert the campers and the cultists as to the true reason that you’re here – you’re suspicious enough.”

“ _ Really _ ?” Percy responded sarcastically. “I hadn’t realised that the bunch of unknown, highly armed and masked people were  _ suspicious. _ ”

Ares snorted, directing a grin in their direction. “Ten drachmas that these lot start a fight. Fifteen if it’s with someone fun.”

Aphrodite let out a small huff. “Ares, do  _ shut up _ .” Behind them, a smug expression appeared upon Hephaestus’ face.

“Lord Zeus, Lords and Ladies of the Council, welcome.” Chiron greeted them when they reached the base of the hill, frown on his face. “I was unaware that you would be visiting this Solstice.”

“Yes, we were rather unaware of it too.” Hera glared at her husband. “We still haven’t finished the council meeting upon Olympus.”

“Which we won’t finish until Poseidon joins us, which will not be before the sun starts to set.” Hades drawled lazily. “So this is a rather pleasant break.”

Chiron was eyeing their ranks uneasily, obviously suspicious as to why they were there. “Forgive me for being pushy, but who are these people?” He gestured to them. “I have celebrations to return to, dinner will start soon, and we have a game of Capture the Flag planned for the evening.”

“As you are aware, there is a storm brewing,” Zeus spoke hurriedly, voice low. “A war is on the horizon if we do not figure out how to stop it before it begins.”

“What Lord Zeus means is that we’re here to help.” Percy cut in, not knowing how long it would take Zeus to get to the point otherwise. “He is of the opinion that there are people in this camp that wish to see that war come about. I am Caeruleum, Commander of the Chaos Group. My fellow Warriors and I would like your permission to infiltrate your camp and find the people responsible.”

“The Chaos Group?” Chiron asked, looking uncertain. “I thought you didn’t exist. The last recorded mention of your group was several centuries ago.”

“Lord Chaos has seen fit to start meddling with the affairs of the universe again.” Percy shrugged. “He had me rebuild it several years ago.”

“This camp is in sore need of your help.” Chiron shook his head. “After the last five years we’ve had… You will be seen as a blessing by some.”

“What do you mean by that?” Percy asked, confused. “I thought this was the ‘New Age of Heroes’ or something like that? You’ve got, what, five of the Big Three’s kids running around?”

“We lost one of the best young men that this world has seen five years ago.” Chiron bowed his head for a moment. “His influence is sorely missed.”

Percy stood there for a moment, silent in his confusion. He was well aware that Nathan was classified their best five years ago – had he died? That was a possibility he had never considered, Nathan was safe from the harms of quests and the borders were strong. Percy thought it was doubtful that Nathan had been allowed to put himself in danger after they had lost the expendable son of Poseidon. “May I ask who you refer to?”

“My son.” A weary voice sounded behind him. “Percy Jackson.”

Percy turned slowly, freezing when he took in the god before him. It did not look like the image he associated with Poseidon, though it was undeniably him. Gone was the tan and the permanent smile, the bright Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda short combination that Percy had teased him over for looking like the ultimate tourist on several occasions. Even the Birkenstocks that had never left his feet were gone, all exchanged for a black suit and dark green shirt. The wild waves of hair that Percy had inherited were a stark white and tamed. Gone was the warm sea-green of his eyes, instead a cold storm had taken residence. He was the shell of the father Percy had known and grown to love.

Percy realised, with tension growing in his stomach, that even when Oceanus had attacked, his father’s eyes had retained their warmth – now the cold replacements regarded him with a weary expression.

“Who are you, child, and why has my brother brought the council here?” Poseidon asked, voice tired. He looked as if he were shouldering the weight of the world – a fate that Percy would wish upon nobody. Though he had mixed feelings toward his father, no child wanted to see their parent in such a state and it took a lot of Percy’s willpower not to wrap his old man in a hug.

“Commander Caeruleum of Chaos’ Group,” Percy answered Poseidon’s question softly. “We’re here to find those who want to see Kronos and Gaia rise again. The Council accompanied us to Camp to explain to Chiron why discretion should be key.”

“I was unaware that Chaos had founded his group again.” Poseidon hummed. “Percy’s favourite colour was blue.”

“Brother, are you losing the plot?” Zeus looked concerned.

“No, idiot, the Commander’s name translates to ‘blue’.” Hades rolled his eyes.

“It’s my favourite colour.” Percy ignored them and smiled at Poseidon. “My parents both loved it too, they joked that it was an inherited gene.”

“Do you know what happened to my son?” Poseidon asked.

Luke reached slightly so he could squeeze Percy’s wrist as a reassuring gesture.

“I know that he did not die, if that is what you are asking me.” Percy responded nervously. “That he is yet to pass on from this Realm.”

“I know.” Poseidon smiled sadly. “I would know if my son had departed from the land of the living. I was asking if you had chanced upon him on your travels, if you knew where an old man could find his son to ask him to come home.”

Percy stiffened, not knowing how to respond.

“I presume that you have indeed met him as you know who I am talking about, and that he is alive.” Poseidon added, raising an eyebrow.

“We had a run-in with him not long after his departure from camp.” Luke stepped in for him, discreetly holding Percy’s hand as a gesture of comfort, realising that a quick squeeze of the wrist wasn’t what Percy needed right now. Percy needed a hug, but he couldn’t offer that in front of the Olympian Council.

“He was tired and lonely,” Percy spoke quietly. “He missed you but didn’t feel ready to return. I can only assure you that he will return – we have not encountered him since so I could not give you an answer to his whereabouts.”

“Was he injured?” Poseidon asked, anxious expression replacing his grave one. “All that we found was blood and his sword – his blood.”

“I can assure you, I saw no signs of any injury.” Percy nodded. “He was well.”

Poseidon seemed to lose about five years before him, eyes suddenly brighter and posture taller. “Thank you. Both of you.” He smiled at them both. “I’m afraid I do not know your name?” He looked at Luke.

“Lieutenant Heros.” Luke nodded. “I’m Commander Caeruleum’s second in command. It’s my job to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Lies and slander.” Percy huffed before glancing down the hill. “I suppose we’d best go and introduce ourselves. I can see them congregating from here.”

“Sure, if you call ‘preparing for a fight’ congregating.” Luke rolled his eyes. “They look like a fun welcome party.”

“You’re the one who’s no fun.” Percy laughed and started to walk, tugging Luke’s hand so that the other demigod had no choice but to either release him or follow.

Luke sighed, following. The gods watched on for a moment, all raising eyebrows at the group.

“Is it a couple who lead this group then?” Aphrodite suddenly looked far more interested, letting out a squeal.

The entire group started to laugh, not stopping when Percy and Luke stopped halfway down the hill to stare at them questioningly.

“You going to let us in on the joke?” Percy called.

They didn’t receive an answer, just more laughter.

“Thought so.” Percy sighed, turning back to face camp. He had a cult to find.

  
  



	6. Camp v Chaos.

Annabeth had noticed the group on the hill when Chiron had suddenly abandoned his position on the porch of the Big House. She immediately ran for the Cabins, knowing that she would find Jason messing with mini bolts of lightning in the centre.

“Jase!” She shouted to get the blonde’s attention.

The Son of Jupiter spun around, exhaustion flashing in his eyes. “Annabeth?” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “You look like the bearer of bad news.”

Annabeth sighed. “Where’s everyone else?” She asked, glancing towards the Cabins.

“Why?” Jason frowned. “What’s going on?”

“That.” She pointed towards the hill.

By the time the entire group had been herded down the hill, grumbling gods and all, members of the camp had started to mobilize, all running towards them with various weapons.

Percy thought it was the perfect welcome home.

“Zeus, would you like to do the honours?” Percy gestured to the incoming demigods. “Heros and I would probably manage to say something offensive before we managed to come up with a plausible explanation for us being here and we’d end up in body bags.”

“And wouldn’t that be a shame.” Zeus muttered.

“You’ve only just met the young man; would it pain you to be nice?” Poseidon queried.

“Zeus knew me long before I ran away with this lot.” Percy laughed. “I’m used to him wishing for my death.”

“Chiron?” A familiar voice called at the head of the demigods. Percy froze. “What’s going on?”

“Why wasn’t I immediately informed?” Nathan shoved his way to the front of the group. “Lord Zeus, who are these people?”

“That’s literally what Annabeth just asked.” Jason glared at the other male.

Percy observed each member of the group of campers carefully, confused to find exasperation and annoyance on the faces of the majority of the group.

“These are some guests that we’ll be hosting for a few weeks.” Chiron ignored the squabbling. “They’re demigods who specialise in threats that aren’t local, they need somewhere to lay low for a while.”

“What are you called?” Annabeth asked before Nathan could open his mouth.

“We are the Chaos Group,” Percy responded in monotone. “I am Commander Caeruleum.”

“Why weren’t we asked if they could stay here?” Nathan protested. “I don’t want a bunch of masked freaks in  _ my  _ camp.”

“And who are you?” Luke asked, staring at him.

Percy resisted the urge to laugh at the look of outrage that appeared on Nathan’s face. While he sorely wanted to make amends with his father and Chiron, Nathan was not someone he would be forgiving anytime soon. 

He took the time to stand and stare at the boy, unable to believe that they were indeed related. Though he was glad that there was a lack of resemblance, he didn’t understand how there wasn’t one. Nathan was shorter than him, blonder than him and his eyes were brown, not the sea green that were usually typical of Poseidon’s children. It wasn’t even the same brown as Tyson’s eye – warm and inviting. No. Nathan’s eyes were dark, dark like blood-stained earth.

Then Percy came to a realisation. Nathan hadn’t aged. Swiftly he scanned the faces of each of the demigods in the growing crowd, realising with a growing sense of horror that they all looked the same as they did the day he walked out of camp five years ago.

“I,” Nathan drew himself to his full height, “am Nathaniel Bradley Burns, son of Poseidon, and this is  _ my  _ camp.”

“I’ve never heard of you,” Luke responded bluntly. “Blue, have you heard of this guy?”

Percy couldn’t help but grin. “Nope, never heard of him.”

“Has anyone heard of him?” Luke turned to their team, receiving muffled laughter and emphatic ‘no’s’ before he turned around and shrugged at Nathan. “Sorry Nat, none of us have heard of you. Guess you can’t be  _ that  _ important around here then.”

“Well,  _ I’ve  _ never heard of  _ you. _ ” Nathan huffed. “Who are you, his little minion?” He had gestured to Percy as he asked.

Luke ignored him. “Chiron, we were wondering where we could set up our camp?” He turned to the centaur while Percy continued staring at the campers.

“Well, we have Cabins available for all godly parents?” Chiron looked slightly nervous.

“The majority of us are thought long dead by our parents, we’d rather not take residence in their Cabins while they are unaware of our living status.” Percy turned to address him. “We just need a patch of land to set up.”

“There is the empty space beside my Cabin.” Hades spoke up. “I suggest there.”

“Excellent idea.” Chiron smiled. “Whereabouts is Nico?”

Percy’s breath hitched at the mention of one of the few people he had regretted leaving behind, immediately starting to scan the crowd in the hopes he would find the son of Hades. 

There had been several times over the years when he had debated going to Chaos and asking him to allow him to invite Nico to join the group before the thought of what Hades’ reaction would have been stopped him. Poseidon had another son and other children to focus his attention on, but Nico and Hazel were Hades’ only children and the god of death doted upon them. Percy wasn’t going to take away Hades’ son due to his own selfish desires to have another old friend with him.

“We’ve not seen him all day, not since breakfast.” Cecil appeared at the front of the crowd. “He was a bit grumpy, muttered about visiting the Underworld to see someone, but didn’t say who.”

“He’ll come back in his own time.” Hades’ voice was soft, and nobody argued as he glided forward. “Come along, you rabble, I’ll show you where you can stick your glorified tent.”

  
  



	7. A Hello From a Hellhound.

They made it a few feet before Percy stopped, tilting his head in confusion.

“Can you hear that?” He asked Luke, convinced that he could hear something.

“ _ MRS. O’LEARY _ !” A shout echoed before Luke could respond, realisation dawning on Percy’s face as he realised that the sound was that of thundering paws.

He blanched as the name registered, knowing that if it was indeed his hellhound running, she was coming in this direction.

It had been with great distress that he had left Mrs. O’Leary at his mom’s several days before he departed, having assured his mom that it would ’just be for a few days’, not wanting to admit that he was leaving – leaving with only a letter left on his pillow to explain that her only child was leaving when he had promised never to disappear again after the incident with Hera.

Now Mrs. O’Leary was at camp and she was running towards their group. Percy groaned internally, realising that he had survived an encounter with his father, swiftly followed by one with Nathan, and now he was about to be mauled by a hellhound for leaving her behind for five years.

“ _ Mrs. O’Leary _ !” There was another shout, this one tinged with desperation. Percy’s eyes widened as he recognised it as Nico’s voice. Sure, he’d wanted to see him, but he didn’t want it to be like this.

Percy turned, hoping to find Hades so he could shove the god towards the hound and hope that he proved to be an ample distraction.

Hades was nowhere to be seen.

“Angelus?” Percy yelped as Mrs. O’Leary began her final approach.

Bianca skidded in front of him, holding out a hand to stop the hellhound in her tracks. “Hey, girl.” Bianca greeted softly as the hound stopped. “Sit.”

Percy had not felt such relief as he did in that exact moment for years. Mrs. O’Leary was sat wagging her tail, trying to peer past Bianca to get a look at Percy.

“How about you have a nap after that run, hey?” Bianca soothed, and as if by some miracle, the hellhound flopped down, snoring like a jackhammer in seconds.

“My Guardian Angel.” Percy proclaimed, grinning at Bianca.

“Stop calling me that, idiot.” Bianca rolled her eyes and shoved past him to stand with Zoë and Silena once more.

Percy didn’t respond, distracted by the arrival of a certain son of Hades. 

“Holy Zeus.” Nico bent to catch his breath before straightening and eyeing Mrs. O’Leary. “You really pick your moments, don’t you?” He spoke to the dog, seemingly unaware of the group congregated.

Percy stared at him for several long moments before Nico noticed his audience.

Nico had changed. Gone was the young teenager who looked as if the shadows would claim him at any moment, wearing his oversized aviator jacket as a shield around himself. In his place stood a young adult, clearly hovering around the age of eighteen. He’d clearly aged, while others clearly hadn’t – but he still wasn’t the age he should be. The jacket was gone, perhaps stored away during the summer in favour of the dark green t-shirt that highlighted the fact that Nico was no longer the ghostly shade he had been when Percy last saw him, the glimpse of a tan as if he had been touched by the faintest rays of sunshine. He was taller too, no longer shorter than Percy, and holding himself with a slight air of confidence.

Percy had missed him grow, and that realisation made him feel like a guilty older brother.

“We have visitors?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Commander Caeruleum of the Chaos group.” Percy nearly tripped over his feet in his haste to offer his hand to Nico.

“Hey.” Nico nodded, shaking his hand. “Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades.”

Percy heard Bianca’s audible gasp.

“Nice to meet you, Nico.” Percy grinned.

“How come  _ he  _ gets a proper greeting?” Nathan whined.

“Please, just please, go get on a plane.” Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’ll be doing everyone a favour.”

“Ah, Nico.” Hades finally made a reappearance, greeting his son with a hug that Nico melted into.

“Hiya dad?” Nico looked confused as they parted. “Shouldn’t you be at the Solstice meeting?”

“We were just taking a short break to accompany your new neighbours to camp,” Hades informed him.

“We’ll be setting up next to your Cabin if you don’t mind?” Percy felt like a puppy trying to get Nico’s attention. He resolved to ask him for a private word as soon as possible, wanting to tell him as soon as possible that he had returned.

“New neighbours, cool.” Nico grinned. “Should be fun.” He turned his attention back to his dad. “Did you stop Mrs. O’Leary?”

“Stop her from doing what?” Hades raised an eyebrow.

“Going to take that as a no then.” Nico frowned. “Weird. She ran off and wasn’t listening when I was shouting for her to stop.”

“I stopped her.” Bianca stepped forward, so she was stood beside Percy. “I mean…”

“Daughter!” Hades let out a delighted gasp, enveloping his daughter in a warm hug while Nico looked on from the sideline, looking rather confused.

“We’re all demigods.” Percy took pity on him. “A lot of us died and were brought back to be part of this group. Angelus is one of Hades’ daughters, he was reluctant to let her out of his realm as he didn’t want her to return the hard way.”

“Dad hasn’t had a daughter since the war though.” Nico frowned. “Hazel is alive, and Bia decided to be reborn five years ago.”

“Yeah, quite a few of this group were ‘reborn’ five years ago.” Percy nodded.

Nico stiffened, and Hades and Bianca finally parted from their hug. Bianca turned to her brother and gave him a soft smile. She reached up and removed her mask, pushing her hood down so that her hair fell free. “Hello, little brother.” She greeted before laughing. “Guess I can’t really call you ‘little’ anymore though, can I?”

“Bianca!” Artemis cried out as Nico swept his sister in for a hug, rushing over and stealing the girl as soon as Nico released her.

“You knew that she was alive and didn’t tell me?” Nico asked Hades.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell.” Hades sighed. “I was bound by an Oath older than half of the gods here.”

“You brought my sister back?” Nico looked at Percy.

“It wasn’t so much me-” Percy began, not finishing when Nico pulled him in for a fierce hug. “We’ll talk properly at some point, when we aren’t in front of all these people.” He murmured into Nico’s ear before they parted.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

  
  



	8. Capture the Flag.

Several hours passed in which they swiftly erected the Chaos Cabin and attended dinner before Chiron had announced a celebratory match of Capture the Flag. Percy had been pleasantly surprised to find that the Hunters of Artemis were already in residence, leading to the announcement that it would be Campers v Guests – Chaos’ Army and the Hunters paired together.

“If we lose, I am holding you responsible.” Thalia had marched over and informed him when Chiron had signalled for them to continue with their dessert and chatter.

“Lovely to meet you too, Miss Grace.” Percy couldn’t help but laugh. “We’ve got an hour before we get given the perfect excuse to push Burns in the creek, I’m guessing you’d like to make a plan of action?”

Thalia’s glare broke into a grin before she glanced over to the Artemis Table where her Huntresses were staring over keenly. She nodded, obviously a signal for the all rose, moving to crowd around the hastily claimed ‘Chaos Table’.

“We have a War Room in our Cabin,” Percy informed her. “Would you rather take this there?”

“Why don’t we have a War Room?” Phoebe asked Thalia indignantly.

“You’re making me look bad in front of my girls.” Thalia huffed at him before scanning his table. “Have anyone that I can poach?”

Percy glanced around and then realised that Bianca was still off with Nico, knowing that Thalia would be gobsmacked and demanding explanation if she was present. “Just wait until Angelus comes back.” He grinned.

“Angelus?” Thalia arched a brow.

“One of us,” Percy responded. “She’s currently with her brother, they haven’t seen each other for a few years now.”

“So there are people who know who you are underneath those masks?” Thalia hummed. “Interesting.”

“Would the gods trust us if they did not know who they were letting into this camp?” Percy countered. “Only a few of them know, not all, before you ask Lady Artemis to identify us.”

“That aside, I think we should move this elsewhere.” Thalia sniffed. “Burns is looking at me and I’ll put an arrow through his eye if he continues it for much longer.”

“That just gives me an incentive to stay here.” Percy laughed before standing, the rest of the group standing with him. “But I suppose we should move along. I don’t like the look of his face.”

“The look  _ on  _ his face.” Luke corrected with a low chuckle.

“I meant what I said.” Percy shrugged. “This way!”

Thalia let out an appreciative hum when the Hunters piled into the War Room after them, looking around intently. Percy felt a mild sense of relief that they hadn’t started to put up the information boards yet. He knew that he could trust Thalia with his life, but he didn’t know several faces amongst the Hunters and caution was best at that time.

Thalia. Seeing her had brought him an unexpected relief, even if her first words to him had been a threat. He knew that she was safe, that was what mattered. He’d felt particularly guilty leaving at a time when the Hunters weren’t visiting Camp, knowing that Thalia wouldn’t know that he was missing until such a visit occurred unless Nico had managed to track them down – a nigh on impossible task. She rarely answered Iris calls, if Iris even managed to connect them. He’d left knowing that it could be months until she knew he was gone, and that she’d blame herself for not being around to follow his trail.

He resolved to talk to her when he spoke to Nico.

“This is a brilliant place.” Thalia complimented before confusion covered her face. “But your Cabin doesn’t look this big from the outside?”

“ _ It’s bigger on the inside _ ,” Luke announced before cracking up into laughter.

“Ignore him, we all do.” Percy rolled his eyes. “He thinks he’s funny, we just laugh to humour him.”

“Come on Blue, you were about to make the exact same reference, you’re a bigger nerd than I am,” Luke whined.

“I understood that reference, I just elected to ignore it.” Thalia laughed. “Though I have just realised that we missed out on introductions when you arrived before.”

“Oh!” Percy realised that it was true. The Huntresses had only emerged from the Artemis Cabin long after their arrival and there hadn’t been a moment to speak prior to Chiron announcing that they would be working together. “Commander Caeruleum. This lot just call me Blue.”

“Do you always dress to match your name?” Thalia indicated to the lining of Percy’s cloak, a rich blue silk.

“An unfortunate side effect of it also being my favourite colour.” Percy couldn’t help but smile.

“And the rest of you?” Thalia asked.

“Lieutenant Heros.” Luke introduced himself. He couldn’t quite believe that he was finally stood in front of Thalia, wanting nothing more than to apologise again for what had happened with Kronos, for everything. “This lot all call me ‘a Pain’ though.”

“Lies and slander.” Percy huffed. “You’re loved by all of us.”

“Is Heros whining about us all again?” Bianca entered the room, Thalia freezing.

“Bianca?” Thalia whispered.

Bianca nodded. “I was told that you made Lieutenant. Congrats.” She smiled gently. “I’m guessing that Blue was just about to get to the point that he pulled us all out of the Underworld to be part of this?” She gestured to their ranks and then to the building around them.

“Nico thought you’d gone for rebirth without telling him.” Thalia shook her head. “By the gods, Bianca, I never thought I’d see you again.”

“You can thank Blue.” Bianca smiled softly at Percy. “Now, Nico told me that he will disown me if we don’t kick Nathan Burns’ ass.”

“Nico is on Nathan’s team.” Thalia deadpanned.

“Nico will probably defect the minute he’s given the opportunity to.” Bianca shrugged. “In just a few hours I have lost count of the number of times he has cursed Nathan’s name.”

“We’d best get down to planning.” Percy nodded, grabbing the map of camp that they had brought, spreading it over the table. “Heros, love, be useful and grab some paperweights?”

“Nice map,” Thalia commented.

“You’re in luck with our lot. They’ll underestimate us, think that none of us have been here before.” Percy ignored her comment. “Apart from Bia, that is, but those who remember her being here will know that she was hardly here for any time before she left on the Quest.”

“But they know that we always plan Capture the Flag when we come to camp.” Thalia gestured to herself and the Hunters. “And does that mean that you have been here before?”

“As Bianca said, Blue pulled us all out of the Underworld. Most of us lost our lives in the Titan and Giant Wars.” Luke answered with a wince. “And they’ll think that you’ll be distracted trying to direct us.”

“So I know you all?” Thalia looked apprehensive.

“Most of us.” Luke nodded. “We’ve got some that are far older than this Camp amongst us, but yeah, you knew the majority of us.”

“You’re not going to tell me who though, are you?” Thalia asked, sounding resigned.

“Not right now. Trust us?” Percy asked softly. “I’ll tell you who I am after we win, but I’ll need to tell another person or two at the same time or they’ll never forgive me.”

“Fine.” Thalia nodded. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Nico defected before five minutes had even passed. “Here!” He yelled, tossing Camp’s flag over the creek to Percy. “I told them that I was moving it somewhere safer.”

“di Angelo, I love you!” Percy yelled, breaking into a run.

“Already?” Luke raised an eyebrow when he nearly collided with him.

“Gift from Nic.” He grinned. “Take it, I’ll work on luring Nathan towards the creek. I want to see if he’s bothered to hone any skills in the last five years.”

“Can I hand this off and come watch?” Luke asked. “I need some entertainment.”

“I suspect it will go on for a while.” Percy’s grin grew. “Especially if he’s the same way as he was.”

Luke nodded and started to run when there was a shout from across the creek, a camper having noticed that their flag was in the hands of the enemy.

Percy drew the less conspicuous of his two swords and spun to face the camper.

“Move, or I’ll fry you.” Jason threatened, lightning sparking from his fingertips.

“Not even going to challenge me to a fair fight?” Percy twirled his sword invitingly. “You can always start to play dirty halfway-” He ducked to avoid the bolt that would have hit his head. “Easy! You’re scary.”

“Just get out of my way.” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Hey, do you know what happens to electricity when it comes into contact with water?” Percy asked, smirking as the wave behind Jason grew in height.

Jason frowned.

Percy soaked him, Jason yelping as the force knocked him to the floor. The charge in his hands dissipated into the earth and Percy let out a laugh.

“What in Hades?” Jason cursed, scrambling to his feet. “Nathan, what the hell was that for?” He yelled, looking around.

“What?” Nathan burst out of the undergrowth. “Those idiots have our flag-”

“I know, idiot, why did you just soak me?” Jason hissed, cutting him off.

“I didn’t do anything?” Nathan whined.

Behind them, the wave started to rise again, Percy leaning lazily against the tree as he waited until it was taller than them both before allowing it to slam into them.

“Nathan!” Jason yelled as they were swept over.

Nathan spluttered and climbed to his feet, dripping from head to toe. “It wasn’t me!” He wailed. “I wouldn’t soak myself on pu-  _ You. _ ” He hissed when he saw Percy stood there.

“Me.” Percy grinned. “Want a repeat?”

“Don’t you dare.” Nathan summoned a pathetic ball of water, throwing it towards Percy. Percy lazily held up a hand to stop it, sending it back to hit Jason in the face.

“Way to kick a man when he’s down.” Jason grumbled, not even moving to get up off the floor, lying back and waving his glasses through the air as if that would dry them. Or as a sign of surrender. Percy couldn’t quite decide which.

“Sorry Jay, just trying to make a point to Nathan here.” Percy stalked forward. “Stay out of it and I’ll dry you off.”

“By all means, have at him.” Jason invited.

Percy grinned, waving a hand to take all of the moisture from Jason’s clothes and send it straight into Nathan’s face. Jason started laughing as he stood up, walking back with his hands in the air. “Sorry Burns, you’re on your own here.” He gestured for Percy to continue.

“This is hardly fair.” Nathan stepped backwards until he was up to his ankles in the creek. Percy grinned, making the water swirl up Nathan’s legs like bonds.

He’d had five years of practice, while Nathan clearly hadn’t bothered. Percy focused, envisioning the particles in the water. In seconds, Nathan was stood with ice fixing him in place.

“What have you done?” Nathan screeched, trying not to overbalance. 

“I think that’s pretty obvious, Nathan.” Jason laughed.

“Don’t just stand there, Grace, do something!” Nathan screeched.

“And have him attack me too, no thanks.” Jason snorted.

“I demand a rematch if you win this!” Nathan glared at him while trying to move. The more water that flowed around him, the thicker the ice got. Percy found it hilarious.

“Here I thought you were a Son of Poseidon.” Percy couldn’t help but mock, advancing upon him. He heard a cheer come up from where he knew the territory line had been drawn, grinning. “Still want a rematch while you’re stuck here, all the way away from everyone else?”

“Who are you?” Nathan whined, looking despondently at his feet. “I can’t control ice.”

“Ice is water in its solid-state, Nathan.” Percy sighed. “Did you not listen in school?” He stepped forward, eyeing the now fully frozen creek.

He could hear footsteps approaching, lots of them. Then a mixture of the groups came flooding through the trees, following the path of the creek.

“Blue, it is summer.” Luke started laughing. “There’s probably a very pissed off water nymph out for your blood.”

Percy winced and waved a hand, ice melting back into a flowing creek. Nathan promptly fell over, landing in the water – much to the amusement of those watching.

He sighed and offered Nathan a hand up, totally unsurprised when Nathan tried to tug him into the creek. Instead of falling, one foot went into the water and there was a mass gasp from the crowd.

“Blue, you’ve got a…” Luke gestured above his head.

Percy sighed, glancing up to find a glowing trident floating there.

  
  



	9. Nathan Impersonates Vizzini

“Well, this feels like déjà vu,” Luke muttered in his ear, somehow making it to his side in amongst all of the sudden chaos. “Capture the Flag, the creek, that symbol floating above your head.”

“Really Heros, I hadn’t realised.” Percy deadpanned, watching as Chiron made his way through the shouting campers.

‘Just like Percy.’ – A mutter that he could hear coming from multiple lips.

“Caeruleum?” Chiron looked at him warily.

“My father claimed me many years ago.” Percy shrugged. “I don’t know why he’s claiming me again. I presume that my presence has confused him slightly, it’s not like I been here to stick my hand in some water for years.”

“Inconceivable!” Nathan wailed. “You cannot be Poseidon’s son.”

“Have you forgotten already?” Percy glared at him. He’d allowed Luke to pull him away from the creek when the claim had appeared, but now he advanced slightly upon the shivering idiot. “Have you forgotten that you should not be the only son of Poseidon in this camp, that you drove Perseus Jackson to leave the only place he felt he could truly call home?”

“Inconceivable, that is not what happened.” Nathan shook his head, backing away from him.

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Percy quoted with a laugh.

Nathan looked at him blankly.

“So you’re both uneducated and a bully?” Percy raised an eyebrow. “Good to know. You’ve laid ruin to the reputation of Poseidon’s children. Sure, Triton can be a bit of an idiot, but you’ve been the only representative here since Perseus’ departure.”

“What reputation?” Nathan sneered.

“You’re petty, annoying and quite frankly, rather rude.” Luke listed off. “I think the only reason that Zeus has refrained from executing you thus far is because he doesn’t want to upset Poseidon any more than he already has.”

“Percy Jackson was a hero, selfless and loyal to his last breath.” Bianca stepped forward. “You are a cheap imitation at best.”

“And what do you know about Percy Jackson, you freaks never even met him.” Nathan scoffed. 

“I gave my life for him.” Bianca deadpanned. “And a lot of us knew him, dumbass, so we aren’t the best bunch to insult him in front of.”

Percy felt touched as there was a noise of agreement from each and every one of his surrounding friends.

“Why are you the only one of them not wearing a damn mask?” Nathan asked. “If they’re from here, why are they hiding?”

“Are you actually blind?” Bianca raised an eyebrow. “I took this off before to greet my brother.”

“And you are?” Nathan frowned.

“Bianca di Angelo, former Huntress of Artemis,” Bianca smirked. “I’d say it’s a pleasure but that would be a blatant lie.”

“That explains a lot.” Nathan shot a distasteful look over at Nico. “Everyone seems to die on you, don’t they, di Angelo? First your mom, your sister, Jackson, then-”

Percy somehow managed to catch Nico as he darted towards Nathan, gently manhandling him away from the situation. “He’s not worth it.” He comforted. “Come on, let’s walk away.”

“Caeruleum!” Chiron called after them. “We still haven’t discussed that claim” He gestured above Percy’s head.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory Chiron, he’ll come and talk to you tomorrow.” Thalia intervened. “How about we have another match tomorrow, split up each group into three?”

A cheer went up and Percy managed to steal Nico away unnoticed.

“He brings out the worst in me.” Nico admittedly defeatedly, dropping onto his bed as Percy closed the door to the Hades Cabin behind them. “I thought I knew what hate was, but I’ve learned that it was nothing compared to what I feel about him.”

“I have to admit that it has taken a lot for me not to stab him,” Percy admitted. “He really doesn’t help himself either, does he?”

“I understand completely why Percy left, but sometimes I just wish that he had stayed and knocked Nathan down a peg or two.” Nico sighed. “Which is unfair on my part, I know, but it just would have been brilliant to watch.”

“You miss him then?” Percy asked softly.

“How could I not?” Nico scoffed. “I’ve spent the better part of five years searching for him during school holidays and during term time I live with his family. I have regular chats with Poseidon about him and if anyone in this camp wants to know anything, they ask me.”

“You’re one of the people he misses the most, you know?” Percy purposefully didn’t look at Nico when speaking, instead fixing his gaze on the polaroids that were stuck on the wall. He couldn’t help but smile at the sillier ones, ones where Nico had a bright smile and laughter in his eyes.

“You’ve seen him?” There was a sharp intake of breath from behind him.

The Cabin door opened before Percy could turn and respond, Thalia and Grover entering. His intention to tell the three of them suddenly became a lot easier.

“Alright, Death Breath? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Thalia’s tone was teasing but gentle.

“Caeruleum has seen Percy,” Nico responded, and Percy finally turned, tearing his eyes away from a picture of Nico laughing delightedly with Will Solace’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, clearly sat in the Amphitheatre. Thalia was squeezed in on Nico’s other side, Leo and Grover sat behind them. They all looked happy, the scrawled caption placing the date the summer after Percy left. He was glad.

“You have?” Thalia looked stunned. “Nobody has seen hide or hair of him since he left. None of us have managed to find him, and believe me, we’ve looked.”

“It’s as if he disappeared off the face of the Earth.” Grover bleated mournfully.

“How long has your group been active?” Thalia asked, suddenly looking suspicious. 

“Five years exactly, give or take a few hours,” Percy admitted. “It took a few days for Hades to get everyone out of the Underworld without Nico or the other gods down there noticing, but technically it was founded the second I stepped through the portal.”

Nico stood up and stepped towards him. “If I tried to take this off, would you stop me?” He asked, gesturing to Percy’s mask.

“I’d trust the three of you with my life, of course I’d let you take it off.” Percy nodded, stilling when Nico reached up and shakily pulled the mask off his face.

“Oh my gods!” Nico almost knocked him off his feet with the force that he threw himself at Percy for a hug.

“I’m so sorry.” Percy held him tightly. “I shouldn’t have left you, not like that. I should have spoken to you all.”

“Shut up Kelphead, you had every reason to leave.” Thalia joined the hug, “Even if we were slightly pissed that you didn’t take one of us with you.”

“Percy!” Grover bleated and joined in.

Percy felt warmth in his heart, finally surrounded by some of those he had missed the most over the past few years. 

“I missed you all so much.” He admitted when they finally broke the hug. 

They all ended up sat in a circle on Nico’s oversized bed, three pairs of expectant eyes on Percy.

“We want to know everything, you know that.” Thalia smiled. “But we don’t want to pressure you into discussing anything that you’re uncomfortable with.”

“I honestly don’t know where to start,” Percy admitted. “Everything has just been wild and weird.”

“How about right at the beginning?” Thalia asked. “When Nathan first arrived at camp. I wasn’t here then, and I never got to hear your description of events.”

Percy sighed and nodded. “Gods, that feels like a millennia ago now. So much has happened since.” 

“You’re also going to have to tell us why you’re at camp,” Nico warned. “None of us believe the reason the gods gave us. That you’re just ‘resting’ after a tough expedition.”

“Is that what you want me to start with, or am I starting with Nathan’s arrival at camp?” Percy asked. 

“Start with Nathan.” Grover prompted. “That’s really where it started, isn’t it?”

It was the depths of the night when Percy finally finished answering their questions and recounting his experiences of the past five years.

“Wait, there’s a  _ cult  _ that the gods think has infiltrated camp?” Thalia’s jaw dropped slightly. “No way.”

“Tell me that you’re going to interrogate Nathan.” Nico’s eyes lit up. “Please, it’ll be an early Christmas present?”

“Nic, it’s the Summer Solstice.” Percy laughed. “Or, it was a few hours ago. You’ve still got half a year until Christmas.”

“Emphasis on the  _ early  _ Christmas present then.” Nico grinned before stifling a yawn. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and winced at the time. “Crap, I promised Sally I’d go for breakfast.”

“What time is it?” Thalia asked.

“A little after 3.” Nico groaned. “Perce, you’re a bad influence.”

“You’re the ones who wanted to know  _ everything _ !” Percy protested. “I obliged to your wishes. What time are you going to mom’s?”

“Around 9,” Nico responded. “Are you coming with me? How many people are you going to tell, because a lot of people are missing you.”

“I was going to visit her as soon as I could.” Percy nodded. “I’ll tag along with you, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course I don’t mind Percy, you should be the one minding whether or not I go to breakfast with your family.” Nico laughed.

“They’re your family too.” Percy shrugged. “You’ve been the better son for the past few years, you didn’t leave without saying a proper goodbye.”

“She isn’t mad at you Percy, I swear,” Nico said softly.

“I’ve missed them,” Percy admitted. “Her and Paul, my dad, you three, Leo, and the rest of the Seven.”

“Is that who you’re telling then?” Thalia asked.

“My parents, Leo and some of the rest of the Seven.” Percy nodded. “I don’t think I could face Annabeth just yet.”

“Leo would set you on fire if he finds out you’re back and didn’t tell him as soon as you saw him,” Nico warned. “He’s missed you.”

“I didn’t see anything catch fire during Capture the Flag, whereabouts is he?” Percy asked, frowning. “I thought he’d relish the opportunity to ‘accidentally’ sear off Nathan’s eyebrows, it used to be his favourite hobby.”

“He tried to set Nathan on fire multiple times after your disappearance, he was one of the first to blame him.” Nico laughed at the memory. “Gods, I thought Nathan was going to throw a fit after it happened for the fourth time.”

“You’re best asking Jay where he is, he’s the one Leo talks to the most when he’s on his travels,” Thalia informed him. “The rest of us just get stupid postcards.”

“I don’t want to be the depressing one, but how long do we get to keep you for?” Grover asked, looking miserable at the prospect of losing Percy again.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Percy admitted. “I’ll try and drag out this cult business for as long as possible, and then convince Chaos to assign us to some jobs on Earth, with Camp as our base. Almost all of us called this place home, with the exception of some of the Heroes of Old that we have in our ranks.”

“Heroes of Old?” Thalia raised an eyebrow.

“Achilles, Perseus, Theseus.” Percy listed a few. “Pre-madness Orion. He had to take a group to a different planet though, which is a shame. He’s one of my best friends.” He sighed. “Best shot with a bow and arrow in the whole group – and that’s against the few ex-Hunters that we have.”

“If he joins you, keep him away from Artemis, please.” Thalia bit her lip. “She still resents Apollo for what happened, she doesn’t need a reminder and for him to leave again.”

“He’ll want to see her, but I’ll do my best.” Percy winced. “He pins pictures of Apollo to dartboards and throws darts at his face as a way to relieve some anger most days.”

“ _ Try. _ ” Thalia sighed.

“Wait, did Mrs. O’Leary run off on me because she smelt you?” Nico asked, suddenly looking stunned. “That explains a lot.”

“She missed you,” Grover informed him. “As did a certain Pegasus who is very bitter about the fact his favourite person doesn’t visit him anymore.”

“Blackjack?” Percy’s face lit up.

“What other Pegasus would I be talking about?” Grover responded.

“How is he?” Percy asked, biting his lip. He’d seen Mrs. O’Leary in the flesh to know that she was okay, but he hadn’t seen Blackjack yet.

“He refuses to let anyone fly him and he is very picky about who feeds him.” Grover sighed. “He bit Nathan the first time he went near him, and then kicked him when he didn’t get the message the second time. He said something about wanting to bite his arm off but he ‘tasted funny’ so he didn’t.”

“One of the wolves said the same thing after they bit Nathan.” Thalia frowned. “Said he tasted like dirt. Salty dirt.”

“We can take Pegasi to visit your mom if you want?” Nico offered, looking slightly unsettled at the idea.

“I’ll visit Blackjack as soon as we return,” Percy assured him. “I know you had a complicated relationship with the Pegasi.”

Nico melted with relief, nodding.

“We’d best let you get some sleep.” Thalia stood, stretching and yawning. “C’mon Grover. The Harpies never try to eat me if I’m with you.”

“Stay here?” Nico asked Percy with wide eyes as if he was expecting Percy to say no.

“I’ll stay,” Percy assured him. He glanced to the collage of photos on the wall but decided it was best not to ask if anyone would take offence to Percy staying with Nico. Nico wouldn’t ask otherwise.

“Your mom is going to be thrilled.” Nico murmured in the dark not long after Percy thought he had fallen asleep. “She’s missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you all too,” Percy admitted.

“You’re here now, that’s what counts.”

Percy tried to refrain from wincing. He meant what he said earlier – he had no clue how long they’d be here for, but he hoped that it would be longer than his best expectations. 

He didn’t want to leave again.

  
  



	10. Home.

“This isn’t anywhere near my mom’s apartment.” Percy frowned, glancing around them. Nico merely grinned and gestured for him to follow. “Where are we?”

“Your dad bought them a house,” Nico responded as he led Percy up a path to a blue front door. “Said that it was something he should have done years ago. Paul is still at Goode, but your mom is a full-time writer now.”

Nico didn’t have to knock, producing his own set of keys from his pocket, all attached to a goofy looking killer whale charm.

“Nice whale.” Percy laughed, still not fully processing how much had changed in five years. “Very you.”

“Your dad gave it to me after he took me to a protest at SeaWorld.” Nico grinned in response and Percy just stared at him for a moment.

“I have no words.” He finally settled on his response.

“The whale is called Felix,” Nico informed him before unlocking the front door. He stepped inside before looking at Percy with an embarrassed blush as he called out, “Mom, I’m home!”

“We’re in the kitchen!” Sally called in response.

“She gets upset if I call her Sally,” Nico muttered in explanation as he kicked off his shoes. “Sorry if it weirds you out, I should-“

“Nic, I’m not bothered by it,” Percy assured him. “I swear.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a guest,” Nico informed Sally as they neared the kitchen.

“You’ve finally brought a boyfriend to breakfast?” Sally laughed.

Percy faltered in the doorway of the kitchen, nearly gasping at the sight of his mom stood by the counter. He had been used to leaving for extended periods of time due to attendance at boarding schools when they ran out of schools in the city that would take him, but nothing had prepared him for leaving her for five years – not even the time stolen by Hera.

“Not exactly,” Nico responded to Sally’s question. “He arrived at camp yesterday with a  _ very  _ interesting explanation as to where he has been for the past five years.”

“Hi, mom.” Percy managed to choke out, the words catching slightly in his throat.

Sally spun, hands flying to cover her mouth.

“ _ Percy _ ?” Paul’s stunned tone drew his attention over to the table where his step-father was sat.

The little girl sat across from him twisted in her seat and looked at him with wide eyes. “Percy!” She let out a delighted squeal. “Like my big brother Percy?”

“I figured that your mom should get to tell you about the little one.” Nico murmured softly.

“Hi sweetheart,” Percy greeted faintly. “You weren’t here last time.”

He didn’t get to say anything else, swept into a tight hug by his mom. All he could do was return it, suddenly overwhelmed by emotion. When he’d left camp, he’d reconciled himself with the fact he was losing all of the people and the friends he had made there. When Chaos had made his offer, he’d accepted, only thinking of the people at camp. It was only later, when everything had started to sink in that he had realised in a panic that he wouldn’t be able to tell his mom and Paul where he was, what he was doing. Not without leading Chaos straight to his weak point.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, repeating it several times, hoping that she realised swiftly that he truly was sorry for leaving without a trace.

She lightly slapped his shoulder after releasing him, shaking her head. “I can’t believe you let  _ Hades  _ tell us that you had disappeared off with some god, and then not even  _ call. _ ” Sally scolded.

“Wait, Hades told you  _ what _ ?” Percy frowned.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw an expression of disbelief, shock and anger flash across Nico’s face as the boy had to reconcile with the fact that while his father had watched him struggle with Percy’s disappearance for years and had never said a thing, his adoptive parents had also known.

“The day after you left, before your father came and told us that he thought you were  _ dead _ , Hades dropped by to tell us that you’d gone gallivanting off with the creator of the universe and that we’d probably be informed of your demise. He made us swear an Oath not to tell anyone, not even Nico or Leo. It wasn’t until I realised that he hadn’t told them that I turned furious.” Sally huffed. She turned to address Nico, “I didn’t know he didn’t tell you, darling, and it almost killed us both having to keep it from you. If I knew how, I would have gone to the Underworld myself to give him a piece of my mind.” She turned back to Percy, “and you, Mister, promised after the Hera incident that we’d never go too long without seeing you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” Percy admitted. “I was just so focused on getting out of camp, getting away from everything that was going on, I didn’t think.”

“You know what breaking an Oath does.” Nico shook his head, obviously trying to quash the tears that were forming in the corner of his eyes. They all decided not to bring them up. “If I’m mad at anyone, it’s my dad.”

“Nico told us about Nathan too.” Sally shook her head. “Why didn’t you say anything to us?”

“I didn’t want to make a fuss.” Percy winced. “I was just going to leave quietly, lie low for a while and then come home when anyone who bothered to look, stop looking. Instead, I got wrapped up in universal politics and lost track of how much time was passing.”

“You’ve missed a lot.” Paul clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. “We’ve got someone who we want you to meet.” He stated as they parted.

“I’m Estelle.” The little girl had moved from the table and suddenly she was stood before him, staring up at Percy with a determined expression on her face. “I’m going to be a wolf when I grow up.”

“I’ve gained a baby brother and sister then?” Percy laughed, gesturing to Nico and Estelle. “Hi Princess, I’m Percy.”

“I know, silly. There’s pictures of you everywhere!” Estelle giggled. “Hug!”

He lifted her up, pretending to groan and struggle before she playfully hit his shoulder and slung her arms around his neck.

“Have you told Poseidon that you’re back?” Sally asked. 

“Uncle Don!” Estelle cried unexpectedly.

“Nic, tell me that it’s just Estelle that calls my dad ‘Uncle Don’.” Percy looked at Nico with wide eyes. “And no, mom, not yet. I will be though, shortly.”

“He visits quite often,” Paul admitted. “He’s rather attached to Estelle and Nico.”

“And no, I don’t call him Uncle Don.” Nico shook his head. “He’s just Uncle Poseidon.”

“This is too good.” Percy couldn’t help but laugh, gently setting Estelle back on her feet as he did. “Gods, I expected you’d be family when I brought you home and mom refused to let you leave, but I didn’t foresee this.”

“Good thing that you aren’t a son of Apollo, or I think he’d be forced to consider disowning you.” Nico teased.

Percy opened his mouth, about to make a sarcastic comment about maybe still being Nico’s type if he was Apollo’s son before reconsidering. It wasn’t exactly the best time and though he may have seen the picture on Nico’s wall, Nico hadn’t exactly said anything to him, so he didn’t want to make an assumption in case he was wrong. The picture had been dated to the summer after he had left, very close to being four years previous. Instead, he just laughed. “Good thing indeed.”

“What time do you have to head back to camp?” Sally asked as she turned back to the hob, focusing on the sausages in the frying pan. “Nic, check the bacon for me.”

“Perce has to pay a visit to Blackjack at some point, and I have a Head Counsellor meeting at four, but we’re yours for as long as you can put up with us,” Nico responded as he did as instructed.

“Have you heard from Leo?” Sally nodded, taking the information in her stride. “He sent us a postcard from Sydney, I was wondering if you’d had anything?”

“You know what Leo is like.” Nico huffed. “I got a postcard from one of the Lord of the Rings filming locations in New Zealand along with a full set of the Fellowship in Lego characters the other week.”

“Leo likes to send Nicky silly things.” Estelle informed him, talking just as fast as Leo. “He sends Lego to Nicky and I get things that he’s made. He made me a little wolf out of silver, he’s just like Fessy! Mom says that Geralt isn’t allowed bacon so he’s in the living room at the moment so I can’t let him in, but look! Leo made me a necklace that matches him. Leo called him Geralt, I call him Gerry sometimes but he’s programmed to answer to-”

“Little Star, you need to breathe as you talk.” Nico laughed, sweeping Estelle off her feet and carrying her over to the table where he deposited her into her seat. She promptly darted beneath the table, around Nico’s legs and ran to grab Percy’s hand.

Percy allowed Estelle to tow him over to a seat at the table beside her, unable to stop the stupid grin that was spreading on his face.

“You’re a menace.” Nico informed her, taking the seat across from Percy. “A little monster.”

“Nope, I’m your Little Star!” Estelle grinned, curls bouncing as she moved her head.

“Remind me to send Nico to check the food again in a minute.” Sally sat down beside Nico, a warm smile directed at Percy. “Gosh, I can’t believe this is happening.”

“It feels very surreal.” Paul agreed from Estelle’s other side. “I didn’t expect this when I woke up this morning. I had hoped that Nico would have shown up with Leo in tow as a surprise, but this… It’s so good to see you, kiddo.”

“It’s so good to see you all too.” Percy grinned. “And to meet this one!” He ruffled Estelle’s hair and she giggled.

The feeling he’d felt before he had fallen asleep returned, joining the warmth that the feeling of home caused. He didn’t want to leave and lose it. He was surrounded by several of the most important people in his life and all he wanted was to bring in the rest and merge his family and his found family and never leave either again.

  
  



	11. An Intro to the Counsellors: Camp 101.

They left at three, reluctantly, promises extracted by Sally that they’d both come to brunch the following Saturday. Percy didn’t admit that he probably wouldn’t wait that long to come back to his family.

“Are you going to see Blackjack now?” Nico asked as they walked over the crest of the hill, Peleus snoring softly where he was wrapped around the tree. Puffs of smoke rose from his nose with each breath and it made Percy smile.

“I will when you’ve got the Counsellors meeting.” Percy nodded, recalling what Nico had said to Sally. 

“I was going to suggest that you come too.” Nico bit his lip. “It’ll be a chance for you to talk to everyone and for you to be brought up to speed on everything that’s happened in camp that I might have forgotten to tell you.”

Percy considered for a moment before nodding. “Just let me swing into the Chaos Cabin first. We’ve got an hour, right? Heros will be wondering where I am. I also suppose that I’d best show my face as an explanation for the claim that floated over my head. Although, not  _ literally.  _ I don’t think me showing my actual face would be such a good idea.” 

“I’ll wait in my Cabin.” Nico nodded, trying to hide his laughter as Percy double checked that his hood was up to cover said face.

“Come in, if you want.” Percy offered as the Cabins came into sight, the distance between them and the ‘Chaos Cabin’ short. “You’ll be proof of my excuse to escape. Heros won’t believe that I’m going to a Counsellors meeting, he’ll think I’m lying. Apparently I’m ‘neglecting him’, which is lies and slander.”

“I won’t see anything I’m not supposed to?” Nico raised an eyebrow, stopping outside of the Cabin and eyeing it nervously.

“One second.” Percy indicated. He opened the door and stuck his head in. “VISITOR!” He turned back to Nico and grinned from the depths of his hood. “C’mon.”

“Hi baby bro.” Bianca waved from where she was sat as they walked through the living room, her mask lying abandoned on the arm of the couch. “No point me putting it on, Perce, the entire camp has seen my face.”

Percy faked mock outrage as he pulled his own mask off now that they were safely inside, pressing it to his chest and placing the back of his hand against his forehead as he pretended to swoon. “The disrespect!”

“Hi Bia.” Nico ignored him, heading for a hug from his sister.

Percy felt bad, knowing that he’d spent a lot of time with Nico since their arrival and he wasn’t overly sure how much time Nico had spent with his sister.

“Did you have a good time at Sally’s?” Bianca asked, pulling Nico down to sit beside her.

“I’ll pop up and let Heros know that we’re back.” Percy interrupted before Nico could respond. “Let you two have some time to catch up.”

“Bring Heros down to join us.” Bianca called after him as he made his way towards the stairs.

Percy nodded, leaving them to their conversation. He ran up the stairs, wandering down the corridor until he reached Luke’s room.

“Knock knock?” He called out as he knocked and opened the door.

“Huh?” Luke grumbled, a pile of blankets in the middle of his bed.

“Were you having a nap?” Percy asked.

“I couldn’t get to sleep last night.” Luke grumbled, sitting up and raking a hand through his bedhead. “Being back here… I don’t know man, it’s confusing the fuck out of me.”

Percy winced, knowing exactly how Luke felt. 

How a lot of them were probably feeling.

“It’s weird.” Percy agreed, nodding.

“I haven’t got a clue what’s going on in this place anymore, there’s so many faces that I don’t recognise and so many that I do.” Luke sighed.

“Nico wants me to go to the Counsellors meeting with him.” Percy closed the door, shutting out the sounds of laughter floating from one of the nearby rooms. “It’ll be the first time I see a lot of people I left behind properly and I don’t know how to feel about it.”

“How is Nico?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “I’m guessing he’s who you stayed with last night? And you went to your mom’s this morning, right? Bia said something about Nico going so I presumed you went too?”

Percy considered for a moment before shrugging. “Yeah, I stayed with him and we went to see my mom.”

“And the other part?” Luke raised an eyebrow when his initial question went unanswered.

“Something seems different about him.” Percy frowned. It was a realisation that had slowly been dawning on him the more time he spent with Nico. “He’s hiding something from me, there’s something he’s not telling me. He keeps having quiet moments when he thinks I’m not paying attention, when he gets this look on his face and I don’t know what to do because it reminds me of how he was after he lost Bia and I handled that completely the wrong way.”

“Do you not think he just misses Leo or something?” Luke asked, rolling out of bed. He stuck his head in his closet and yanked out a t-shirt that had a winged sandal on the front, ‘Hermes’ emblazoned above it. Percy chose not to comment.

“I don’t know what to think.” He shook his head. “He’s downstairs with Bia at the moment, I figured we’d just kill time here before we headed to the meeting.”

“Let’s head down now.” Luke grabbed his mask and cloak and started to make his way towards the door.

“T-shirt and underwear a new look, Luke?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Crap.” Luke dropped said mask and cloak on Percy and went and grabbed his jeans from where they had taken residence on Luke’s chair.

“Idiot.” Percy rolled his eyes.

Luke merely flipped him off. When he was finally dressed, they headed downstairs.

“-can tell him anything, you-” Bianca clammed up as they stepped into the room, dropping her brother’s hands.

“This one had to get dressed.” Percy didn’t want to call the siblings out, gesturing to Luke with his thumb playfully. “He was having a nap.”

“It’s not a crime to want to sleep.” Luke huffed, flopping down opposite the siblings. “So, Nico, Percy tells me you’re the one to ask about who’s who in this place now?”

Nico relaxed when he realised they weren’t about to ask what Bianca had stopped talking about upon their entry and the worry in Percy took a small uptick. He knew that Nico would tell him what was up with him if there was in fact something wrong. Eventually.

When they left for the Counsellors meet, Luke came too.

“Can’t trust you not to say something stupid.” He muttered as an explanation, Percy elbowing him in the ribs as they walked.

“I never say anything stupid.” Percy huffed.

Luke’s laugh was akin to a bark. “What you just said was stupid.”

“You’re stupid.” Percy retaliated.

“Children?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “Are you done?”

“Brought company?” Clarisse was stood on the steps to the Big House. She eyed Percy and Luke curiously before her gaze fixed on Percy. “You.” She pointed at Percy before raising her hand in an offer of a high five and grinning. “Anyone who makes Nathan look  _ that _ ridiculous deserves a damn medal.”

Percy laughed, giving her a high five.

“Please, don’t encourage him.” Luke sighed. “We’ve just managed to teach him to be nice to strangers.”

“He did what we all wish we could do.” Clarisse shrugged. “Made a fool out of the biggest fool in this place.”

“I was worried that people would actually like Mr. Burns?” Percy asked.

“Eh.” Clarisse pulled a face. “He seemed cool for a few weeks five years ago, the power went to his head and then he proved just how useless he was. There are only a few people who actually like him and damn, they’re a weird group.”

“How weird?” Percy asked, suddenly intrigued.

“Demigods can get weird.” Clarisse shuddered. “This lot is weirder.”

“Thanks for waiting for me.” Chris jogged up to them, beaming at Clarisse. “Didn’t think you actually would.”

“Figured I might as well talk to this lot.” Clarisse shrugged, pressing a quick kiss to Chris’ lips. “Don’t say a word, Death Breath.”

Nico looked positively gleeful. “Not a word, I swear.” He smirked at Percy. “Aren’t they repulsively cute?”

“Let’s head in before Nathan turns up and kicks up a fuss about these two before we even get started on the meeting.” Clarisse sighed, ignoring Nico as she spoke to Chris.

“We’ll be very well behaved, I swear,” Luke promised.

“It’s not you two we’re worried about.” Chris shook his head. With that, he led the way inside.

“Caeruleum, Heros,” Chiron called as they followed Clarisse, Chris, and Nico into the room. “Glad that you could join us.”

“It was my idea, I figured it’d be a way for them to meet everyone properly and to know what has been happening in camp for the last few years.” Nico volunteered.

Percy glanced around the room and saw the staples of old camp Counsellor meetings, right down to the spray cheese on the pool table.

“I thought there would be more.” Percy frowned, glancing around the room. “No, there should be more.”

Until they hit the summer holidays in the months after Gaia rose, they hadn’t bothered with proper Cabin-Head meetings. There weren’t enough year-rounders for them to be necessary, and many of them – just like Percy and Nico – went to school during the week and stayed in the city until the weekend came. Summer had started the same week Nathan had crossed camp lines for the first time, and they never held a meeting until they were two weeks in. Three weeks in and Percy’s role as Cabin Head had been cut to basics, the meeting held in the brief few hours he’d had to head to New York. The rest had been cancelled, Chiron citing reasoning that they needed to come up with a better idea now that there were far more Head Counsellors now that construction of the Cabins for the minor gods was well underway and each of them spawned a new Head Counsellor. The one meeting he had attended had been literal chaos.

“We tried having a Counsellor from every Cabin, but meetings were taking far too long, and everyone had different opinions,” Chiron responded. “So we decided that we’d have the Head Counsellor from the original Cabins represent their own Cabin and one or two of the others. They meet with the Heads of those Cabins before we have a meeting and raise any issues they want to be discussed here.”

“Seems complicated,” Percy commented. “What if the representative doesn’t actually raise the issue for the other Cabin they represent and just raise their own?”

“The agenda gets sent around all of the Cabins and if there is an issue, its added and therefore has to be discussed,” Chiron explained.

“Is this everyone?” Percy asked.

“With the exception of Annabeth and Nathan, yes.” Chiron nodded after looking around the room.

Percy started to look around, eyeing each individual. 

Jason was stood by the pool table, tense and watching Nico and Luke interact with what looked like barely masked concern. He was obviously representing the Zeus Cabin, and likely a number of the minor gods’ Cabins due to the fact he was the only one in his Cabin that he was representing. 

Nathan was as of yet unaccounted for, but he would be representing the Poseidon Cabin – a fact that made Percy’s blood boil ever so slightly. He had been proud to be the Counsellor for his Cabin, even if he was the only one living there aside from when Tyson visited. His dad had joked about sending some siblings his way, but thus far only Nathan had materialised, and Nathan was hardly the sibling that Percy wanted.

Nico stood chatting to Luke, oblivious to Jason’s eyes fixed upon them. He stood, similarly to Jason and Nathan as the sole member and representative of his Cabin, though Percy knew that Hazel’s visits were frequent and that they’d likely have to move Olympus and Erebus to get Bianca to leave with them when they had to move on.

Thalia was hovering close to her brother, her role as Artemis’ Lieutenant meaning she had to represent the Cabin they stayed in while in camp. She, like Jason, had her gaze set on Nico and Luke, but she was especially focused upon the latter. The expression on her face was inscrutable and Percy knew that he would be fending off questions about Luke’s identity later.

Clarisse’s presence as Ares’ Head Counsellor was as constant as the sun shining above camp. Percy honestly feared the day he stepped into camp to find someone new in the position, knowing that it would likely be a sign of the apocalypse. He remembered Chaos’ words about how the gods thought the cult were starting with Camp Half-Blood in the hopes of influencing the young minds easier with the older campers moving on to New Rome where they could also gain an education. Percy knew they didn’t have a hope in Erebus with anyone in the Ares Cabin.

Piper was, similarly to Thalia, hovering on Jason’s other side. She didn’t look quite as happy about it. Percy realised that discussion of the Seven had barely occurred during the hours he had spent with Nico, Thalia, and Grover, instantly deciding to resolve that – whether it meant talking to Nico or talking to the Seven themselves. He also resolved to introduce Silena to Piper at some point, though it would likely be after he nudged her in Clarisse’s direction.

Jake Mason looked reluctant to be there and Percy knew that he was likely only there due to the fact that Leo was not. He also supposed that the Hephaestus Cabin had rigged something to choose who to send in Leo’s place after arguing over it, and that the machine had probably been tampered with by each and every one of the Cabin. Even Jake. Especially Jake. Though, since Jake was there, the rest of the Cabin had likely rigged it in his ‘favour’.

Pollux was there, surprisingly. Though, Percy wasn’t too sure whether or not Castor had revealed himself to his brother. He had a feeling that he would either be present, or Pollux would not be if it were the case, so he decided against mentioning it.

Katie Gardner was stood talking to Pollux, likely about the strawberry fields if the expression on Pollux’s face was anything to go by. She, like Clarisse, was a face Percy had come to expect in these meetings.

Just like Annabeth, who was yet to arrive.

Kayla Knowles was not who he expected to see when he started to search the room for a child of Apollo, fully expecting to see the blonde curls and bright smile of Will Solace. Instead, he was looking at blonde head that was dyed with strands of green and eyes that kept flickering to Nico with sadness behind them before looking back at those she was talking to.

It was then that he realised that the Hermes Cabin had not two, but three campers present in the room. Connor and Travis were to be expected as a package – one was rarely found without the other – but Chris was also present, stood chatting to Clarisse.

And, despite Chiron’s words about representatives, Lou Ellen was stood with Kayla, Connor, and Travis. He frowned, wondering why others like Butch and Clovis hadn’t just come anyway if Lou Ellen was there. He then thought that statement over and wondered why Butch hadn’t come. Clovis was likely having an afternoon nap.

He gave Chiron a nod before moving over to Nico and Luke, wondering what they were discussing so intently.

“-nd so he says, ‘I’ll be fine, Heros, just leave me behind and I’ll catch up’.” Luke was laughing. “Which was hilarious to me because he was literally dripping a trail of blood like it was breadcrumbs for the guys chasing us to follow out of the forest.”

“Are you talking about me?” Percy sighed, knowing exactly what story Luke was telling. He also knew that it painted him as the biggest idiot in the galaxy as Luke never stuck to the truth when telling it. In reality, it was Luke who had been the idiot.

Before Luke could respond, the door opened.

“Why are  _ they  _ here?” Nathan whined, stopping dead when his eyes fell on Percy and Luke – causing Annabeth to nearly walk into him.

The meeting was about to begin.

  
  



	12. Rhyming Curses.

Percy eyed Nathan with distaste, wishing that they were by the creek once more and he could soak Nathan with a blink of the eye. He could here too, but he didn’t think the group would appreciate the loss of the contents of the jugs of Kool-Aid or cans of Diet Coke. Nor did he think Chiron would be too pleased if he were to burst the pipes that ran through the building.

“We have a Cabin, you’re having a Head Counsellor meeting.” Percy shrugged. “I guess I’m the Head Counsellor.”

“Why are there two of you then?” Nathan huffed.

“I don’t trust him not to say anything stupid,” Luke responded. “Plus, I’ve missed the absolute shitshow these meetings used to be.”

“You’ve been at one of these before?” Thalia asked, eyes fixed on him.

“Before my unfortunate demise, yes.” Luke nodded. “There’s been quite a few changes in leadership though. Well, aside from Clarisse. But she’s as permanent as Chiron.”

“Chiron got fired once.” Travis pointed out helpfully.

“We agreed not to mention that unfortunate period again,” Chiron sighed.

“Clarisse didn’t get fired.” Connor pointed out, even more helpfully.

“You still haven’t explained why you both have to be here!” Nathan interrupted before either of the Stolls could say anything more. “Can’t we keep that one?” He pointed at Luke. “And get rid of that one?” He pointed at Percy.

“He’s not going to waste the Kool-Aid by pouring it on you, Nathan, relax.” Jason rolled his eyes. “I don’t think he’d mess with the pipes either, it’d annoy Chiron.”

“I did consider both of those things but decided against them,” Percy admitted. “And if I touched the Coke, Dionysus would murder me as I slept.”

“I don’t want you here,” Nathan huffed.

“Well, the rest of us do.” Nico snarked. “You’re outvoted, Burns. You’re just scared that he’s going to take your position as Poseidon Head Counsellor. After all, you’ve only got it because there wasn’t any competition after Percy left. I keep hoping that Poseidon drops off a baby because we all know a baby would do a better job than you.”

Nathan spluttered.

“Can we please get at least five minutes into the meeting before you two start fighting?” Annabeth asked.

Percy’s eyes went to her unbidden. He had missed her. Not so much as a lover, but more as a friend for they had been friends far longer than their romantic relationship had lasted. Honestly, he hadn’t blamed her when Nathan had come into Camp. He had managed to present the illusion of a well-spoken young man who held powers significantly less scary than Percy’s for a solid few weeks and when he had begun to whine and moan, many were already under his thrall. He had been something new, a child of the Big Three who was found after two wars and had not heralded the start of a third.

Annabeth looked no different but also different in every way in comparison to the Annabeth he had seen briefly the day he had departed. Her eyes were hard as she looked at Nathan, curious as she looked at Percy. She glanced between Nico and Nathan with a certain air of tiredness that suggested this was not the first time she’d had to referee this fight and she had no expectations that it would be the last.

“Quick, someone start on the agenda.” Katie gestured to the whiteboard on the wall close to Seymour. It was covered in a rainbow of text, some points serious, others daft. “Clovis wants more pillows on the pavilion so he can nap during dinner.”

“Clovis also wants more pillows in the Amphitheatre so he can nap during the campfire.” Chris pointed out.

“Clovis just wants more pillows.” Travis nodded. “And it’s within our power to grant that request.”

“It’s not within the camp’s budget to grant that request.” Chiron intervened hastily.

“Our parents are literal gods, surely they can afford to fund the request?” Connor pouted. “This is totally unfair. We fought two wars for them.”

“di Angelo, your dad is the god of wealth, right?” Travis turned on Nico. “Don’t you have any gold sniffing powers?”

“Wait, dude, when is Hazel visiting?” Connor’s eyes lit up. “She can do that, right? Can we get her to find some gold like a sniffer dog finds drugs in an airport?”

Nico stared at them for several seconds. “Did you just compare my sister to a sniffer dog?” He asked, incredulous.

Travis and Connor exchanged glances.

“Actually, that is an issue we need to discuss imminently.” Chiron intervened. “We’re going to be hosting some of Camp Jupiter for a few weeks.”

“I can’t be the only one to find this weird, can I?” Clarisse spoke up, all traces of her earlier good mood gone. “First, they show up,” she pointed at Thalia. “And then they show up,” she pointed at Percy and Luke. “And now you’re telling us that Camp Jupiter are dropping by too?” She sat back and crossed her arms. “I’m not buying any of it, something weird is going on.”

“Clarisse has a point,” Annabeth spoke up, agreeing. She looked straight at Percy. “Why are you here?”

“And don’t tell us that same bull about winding down after a mission.” Clarisse glared at them. “Or that it was just a coincidence that you were in the state.” She looked at Thalia.

“The gods asked Chaos if they could borrow us for a little while.” Percy shrugged. “We still don’t actually know why, but they told us to stay here so that’s what we’re doing.”

“My father didn’t know who you were,” Nathan argued. “He would have known if that was actually the truth.”

“Zeus and Hades knew, okay?” Percy sighed. “They’re the ones that Chaos went to when he started this little venture – he needed Zeus’ approval to involve demigods and he needed Hades’ consent to pull us all out of the Underworld without starting an incident in which Hades would blame the other gods for souls going missing and Zeus would blame Hades for letting souls escape and it would be the disaster with the Master Bolt all over again and would probably bring about a third war, which nobody wants.”

“Nobody wanted the first two either,” Travis muttered.

“I don’t know what  _ possessed  _ anyone to think they were a good idea.” Luke nodded.

Percy glared at him. “Why did I bring you with me again?” He asked. “I should have let Scorpio have you.”

“Rude.” Luke huffed.

“Lady Artemis wasn’t the one who suggested we visit, it was me.” Thalia spoke up. “I pointed out that it had been a while since we’d visited, and I wanted to check in with Nico.”

“She IMed me about three weeks ago to say they’d be close by and she’d try and visit,” Nico confirmed.

“You’ve been strangely calm about all of this, di Angelo.” Clarisse pointed out. “Are you just glad to have your sister back, screw any danger this lot might bring?”

“I figured that they’re more likely to help with any danger than put us in it.” Nico shrugged. “You saw them yesterday, they were armed to the teeth and looked ready to kill. Today, they’re only carrying around the same number of weapons as any one of us would. Zeus, Clarisse, you’re probably more armed than Heros.”

Luke was making a cutting motion over his neck.

“Okay, maybe not Heros.” Nico winced.

“Think of that scene in The Hobbit where they get caught by elves and stripped of their weapons and Fili keeps pulling random knives out of increasingly ridiculous spots.” Percy grinned. “Heros has re-enacted that scene many a time.”

“You’ve watched The Hobbit?” Nico raised an eyebrow at him.

“I prefer the book. And I only watched the first two, I couldn’t bring myself to have to watch Aidan Turner die tragically. I’d take the Lord of the Rings films over the Hobbit ones anyday.” Percy admitted. “You have literally been in my old room, you definitely saw the map of Middle Earth.”

“Wait, you know who he is?” Annabeth realised, eyes pinned on Nico. 

Percy breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t pick up on the mention of the map which had actually been a gift from her, as a little joke between them. They’d watched the Lord of the Rings films together, the pair of them finding them almost relaxing to watch while the fight scenes that peppered them entertained their ADHD enough to act as a distraction. Sure, they’d had to fast forward through all of the scenes with Shelob that hit a little too close to home, but they’d enjoyed the rest. And, when Annabeth wasn’t struggling with her dyslexia in the brief interval between Gaia’s defeat and Nathan’s arrival camp, she would read the books aloud to him as they sat in the sun by the lake. Well, they never finished the second one before she started to spend less time with him and more time with Nathan.

“The gods want us to trust them and figured that we won’t if nobody knows what the faces under those hoods look like.” Nico lied swiftly. Percy was a little proud and also a little glad for the distraction from his thoughts of Annabeth. “So I know what Blue looks like and Heros has promised to introduce himself at some point. Can confirm he is one hundred per cent human. Well. Fifty per cent human, fifty per cent god. Just like the rest of us.”

“I’m the leader of this camp, it should be me who knows.” Nathan piped up.

“No, you’re not.” Nico scoffed. “If you want to pick a leader in terms of seniority, that’s either Annabeth or Clarisse. You want to pick one in terms of power, that’d have to be settled with a smackdown between me and Jay while you looked on from the sidelines, trying to coax a hurricane out of a water bottle when a water gun could do more damage.”

“Death Breath has a point.” Clarisse gave Nathan a wicked smirk.

“Also, if you want to talk popularity?” Nico laughed. “Even I would win over you, and people still get freaked out when they remember I can summon an army of the undead.”

“If you hadn’t come along and screwed things up, Jackson would still be here, and he’d be both Head Counsellor and the leader of camp.” Clarisse glared at Nathan. “I may have had my moments of disagreement with the punk, but he was one of the best guys around here.”

Percy felt a little choked up. What he had just heard was high praise from Clarisse and for a moment he wished he could push back the hood and thank her. When the rest of the room started to nod and make noises of agreement, his heart melted slightly. These people were part of his home, part of his family and he’d let Nathan drive him away from them. He knew it was also their words and lack of care and attention that had led to him running, but Nathan had been the catalyst. It was easier to blame Nathan for it all and hope that if he hadn’t arrived, the ensuing events would have never happened.

“Percy Jackson was weak,” Nathan snarled. “We’re better off without him. He’d drag us all down with him if he could.”

“You want to say that again?” Thalia asked. Percy could see her hand moving towards the dagger strapped to her thigh.

“Seriously Grace, still defending him?” Nathan huffed. “You and di Angelo are just glorified attack dogs. You liked him because he had just as many issues with your daddy as you do, and di Angelo liked him because… Well, we all know why di Angelo liked him.”

The dagger embedded itself in the pool table less than a hair’s breadth away from Nathan’s hand.

“You must be cursed, di Angelo.” Nathan continued, snatching his hand away. “Everyone you love leaves you in some way. Your mom, your sister, Percy, W-”

“Nathan!” Annabeth yelled just as Percy was about to intervene. “For once in your life can you just shut up? You have no respect for someone you should have called family, at least have the decency to show respect to your fellows. Hard for you to do, I know, but for the love of the gods, apologise, shut up and let us get this over with.”

“Look at his face, he’s gone pale enough for us to wrap him in a shroud and call it a day.” Nathan snorted, gesturing to Nico. “Feeling alright, Spooky? Need us to call a  _ medic _ or can you summon one from the grave?”

Then, to his surprise, Kayla rose to her feet and fixed Nathan with a wicked smile. “I heard a rumour that you have no sense of humour. I heard a story that you deserve no glory. I heard a tale that you are destined to fail.” She leaned in slightly, grin widening. “I curse you to rhyme until someone gives you a dime.”

“We’ll resume this later.” Thalia spat as she ushered a pale-faced Nico towards the door. “This isn’t over, Burns.”

“Don’t be a fool, Grace!” Nathan called after them. Percy watched as it looked like his jaw was forced open by an invisible force. “I’ve never been past first base.”

Percy let out a startled laugh before racing after Thalia and Nico, Luke in tow. If he stayed in the meeting, he’d do something stupid. 

Well, he personally didn’t consider lopping Nathan’s head off as stupid, but he doubted it would do anything good for camp relations.

  
  



	13. Blackjack.

“Every single time!” Nico was angry by the time they reached his Cabin. “Every single time I argue with him, he goes straight for the sensitive topics. Never anything else, it’s always my family and my love life.”

“That’s the second time he’s mentioned Bia and me.” Percy pointed out. “The second time he said all of that actually, and the last time was only during the Capture the Flag match. How often do you have to deal with that?”

“Pretty much whenever I’m at camp,” Nico admitted. “I used to escape to school during the week and then I kept leaving to search for you during vacation when Sally didn’t insist I go home, but now that I’ve finished high school and haven’t committed to college in New Rome yet, I’m here a lot.”

“I knew that he was going to be awful from what Percy told me, but I didn’t think he’d be low enough to go after your family.” Luke shook his head. “I’d go ballistic if someone spoke about my mom and my siblings like that.”

“He tried it with me once.” Thalia pursed her lips. “He asked how I could let my brother go missing, said how my own mother didn’t want me, and asked how I could let my best friend be possessed by Kronos.”

“I’m going to kill him.” Luke declared. Thalia might not have known, but that last comment made Luke’s issue with Nathan personal.

“Heros.” Percy grabbed his arm before he could exit. “I want to kill him too, but can we at least make it look like an accident?”

“Percy.” Luke sighed. “Please.”

“I can’t protect you if you go in there and take his head off unprovoked.” Percy shook his head. “You’d get hauled in front of the Council and you know what Chaos is like at the moment. He’d let them send you back to the Underworld just to separate us because he’s still holding a grudge against us for that stunt we pulled on Seraph-One. You know that’s why he sent Scorpio off to Aponnious-Four with half of our numbers.”

“Wait, you’ve only got half of your team here?” Thalia asked.

“I haven’t been completely truthful about why we’ve been sent here,” Percy admitted. “Yes, we are here because of the cult. But we’re also here because several missions ago, we,” he gestured to himself and Luke, “along with our friends Scorpio, Invicta, and Aurum, were stuck in a sticky situation. We had a plan, it was risky, we didn’t tell Chaos.”

“It was a mess.” Luke winced.

“I faked my death, Chaos thought I was dead, and he went ballistic.” Percy bit his lip. “Screaming about ruined plans and how he couldn’t trust us to work together if we didn’t tell him things. This was his first opportunity to separate the five of us. He sent me and Heros with half of the group here and sent Scorpio, Invicta, and Aurum with the other half elsewhere. Split us in two.”

“And he let you two stay together?” Thalia raised an eyebrow.

“He knew he couldn’t split up the couple without consequences.” Percy laughed.

“I didn’t realise you were actually dating?” Nico looked at them, an expression of pure shock on his face.

“Why do people always think that I’m talking about us two?” Percy sighed. “Invicta and Aurum are the couple. And Chaos doesn’t trust me and Scorpio together, something about two sons of Poseidon being double the trouble.”

“He thinks because we used to literally be at each other’s throats, we can be trusted,” Luke cackled. “When really he should have stuck Aurum with Perce, kept Invicta on-planet and sent me with Scorpio. Then he would have had Aurum pining for Invicta, Percy trying to distract him, Invicta bored as Erebus and driving himself crazy, Scorpio pissed over not being able to come to Earth and me equally as pissed about not being able to punch Nathan in the face.”

“So you knew each other?” Thalia asked with her electric eyes fixed on Luke. “And you didn’t trust each other.”

“I kind of stabbed him in the back.” Luke nodded.

“That’s putting it lightly.” Percy pointed out. “I now hate scorpions just as much as Scorpio. And Scorpio  _ really  _ hates scorpions.”

“Your friend called Scorpio hates scorpions?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “Percy, did you pick the names of your group by any chance?”

“We kind of came up with them together because nobody could think of a codename for themselves and they were all a bit stupid and then they just stuck?” Percy shrugged. “We did try to swap to letters of the alphabet one time, but everyone kept forgetting which letter they were. So everyone kept their nicknames.”

“So you’re Blue, and he’s Hero?” Nico nodded. “And you’ve got friends called Scorpion, Invincible, and Gold?”

“Yep.” Luke nodded. “We’re a very serious group, can you tell?”

“If you two are trying to distract me from wanting to kill Nathan, it’s actually working.” Nico shook his head.

“We’ve skipped your murderous rage phase, fantastic.” Luke clapped his hands together. “What time will dinner be? All of this talk of murder has made me hungry.”

Percy had to reconsider which god was Luke’s father as they slid onto benches on the pavilion. The conch shell that signalled dinner had been blown seconds after the words had left Luke’s lips, and now here they were. Sat at the Hades table with Nico, Grover, Thalia, Bianca, and Zoë.

“Chiron stopped enforcing table rules when me, Jason and Nathan all protested about sitting alone.” Nico commented once they all had food in front of them, and offerings were thrown in the braziers. “I think it’s gone down in camp history as the one-time Nathan and I have agreed on something.”

“I didn’t even notice last night,” Percy admitted. “Are we stealing you away from anyone?”

“I don’t think I could take sitting with Lou, Austin, Cecil, and Kayla after the meeting.” Nico shook his head. “I’d probably sit with Jay.”

“No, you wouldn’t.” Thalia pointed her pasta filled fork at him. “He’d mother-hen you just as much, it’d drive you insane. You’d probably sit with Clarisse.”

Nico looked horrified. “I don’t think you’ve ever sat with Clarisse when Nathan has upset you and she tries cheering you up.” He shuddered. “It’s mentally scarring. She asks about your feelings and if you need to talk about them and because it's Clarisse, it’s scary.”

“That is quite terrifying.” Percy concurred. “I don’t want to imagine it, or I’ll have nightmares about it.”

“Baby.”

“Are you calling me Baby and planning to comfort me, or are you calling me a baby?” Percy asked Luke.

“Sorry Baby, need me to go and fight the big scary Clarisse for you so she doesn’t give you nightmares?” Luke cooed.

Percy flipped him off.

“And thou seriously wonder why we think thou are together?” Zoe laughed.

Thalia jerked as if she had been electrocuted, eyes fixing on Zoe. “Blue, tell me that you pulled freaking  _ Shakespeare  _ out of the Underworld and he was actually female and wore a cape with a silver lining.”

“Thou actually suit the role of Lieutenant.” Zoe nodded to Thalia.

“Tell me that Artemis knows because I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep this a secret.” Thalia shook her head. “Gods, Blue, tell me you aren’t going to spring any more surprises on me?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Percy winced. “Sorry.”

“Can we go back to him calling you Baby?” Nico raised an eyebrow and pointed at Luke. “We didn’t get a straight answer before.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever get a straight answer about it.” Bianca snorted.

“He’s like a brother.” Percy sighed. “A very annoying, irritating brother. Which we remind you  _ all  _ every time this conversation happens.”

“This happens a lot?” Thalia asked.

“The last time we had this argument was a few minutes before Chaos wandered in and told us that he was sending us here.” Luke sighed.

“They’re all still bitter that I chose him as my Lieutenant over everyone else.” Percy shuddered at the influx of memories. It had been a free-for-all before he and Luke had returned from the planet Ra’lo’ic mission and he’d announced Luke would be taking the position. Honestly, he had been quite glad that he had been unconscious when Chaos had announced Percy’s decision. It was, quite simply, a bloodbath as everyone fought to one-up each other to prove that  _ they  _ should have the position. Chaos, the maniac, had encouraged it. “Leadership contests, they’re brutal.”

“Hey, there was only one stabbing.” Luke pointed out.

“I wish that’s how we solved leadership battles here.” Nico muttered darkly, sending a glare over to where Nathan was sat with several demigods that Percy did not recognise, and several that he unfortunately did. Quite frankly, he was surprised that Nathan had friends. It was also a pain because no doubt one of them had broken Kayla’s curse.

“Who is actually camp leader?” Percy asked. “Because you argued about it before, but I don’t actually know who it is.”

“We figured, after meeting Camp Jupiter, that if they have two leaders, we should have two leaders. Plus, with the influx of demigods, it was harder for one person to stand alone as a leader, so we held an election.” Nico explained. “Vote got split four ways.”

“Who?” Percy groaned.

“Split between me, Jay, Clarisse, and Annabeth.” There was a smirk on his face. “And that was after we had to hold a second vote and tell people that they couldn’t just write your name on the ballot because we didn’t know where the fuck you were.”

“I bet Nathan was happy about that one.” Percy couldn’t help but laugh and glance over to the table where the disgruntled looking boy was sat glaring over at them.

He was distracted by a sudden tap on his shoulder.

“Blue?” 

He turned to find Silena stood there, shifting anxiously.

“Dove?” He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I was in the stables, with the Pegasi, and I can just tell that they’re acting off.” She sounded distressed. “Unfortunately, I don’t speak horse.”

“I’ll probably see you all in the Amphitheatre.” Percy nodded to the table and stood, gesturing for Silena to lead the way. Beckendorf joined them from where he stood silently observing the Hephaestus table at the edge of the pavilion, winding an arm around Silena’s waist as they walked.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. “I didn’t know where you’d disappeared to.”

“The Pegasi are acting up, I don’t know what’s wrong,” Silena confessed. “I was hiding with them-”

She stopped when it registered what she had just said.

“You have no reason to hide.” Percy shook his head. “Dove, tell me that you don’t still blame yourself?”

“I don’t, I didn’t, it’s just… It’s hard being around the campers after what I did.” Silena confessed.

“You died a hero.” Percy stopped and stood in front of her. “That’s all that matters to anyone here.”

“But Drew-”

“Drew can go to Eternal Punishment for all I care.” Percy cut her off, Beckendorf nodding his head in agreement. “She’s mad that you fell in love and stayed in love.”

Silena moved further into Beckendorf’s warm hold, the son of Hephaestus holding her protectively, seemingly ready to fight Drew if she walked around the corner.

“I feel like I betrayed them the most.” She sighed. “My Cabin. I left them with that  _ witch _ .”

“And Piper saved them from her and now nobody likes her.” Percy reminded her. “She was sat with Nathan! Your Cabin looks up to you and remembers you with honour. I remember when we were on the  _ Argo  _ one day and Piper asked what you were like. She said that she wished she had gotten the chance to meet you.”

“Why would Piper want to meet me?” Silena frowned.

“Because you’re you.” Beckendorf rumbled and dropped a kiss on her head.

“I betray-”

“No, you didn’t,” Percy said sternly. “And if it wasn’t you, it would have just been someone else who may have given actual useful information.”

“But I did.” Silena protested.

“But you  _ stopped  _ and that’s the most important thing. You looked at what you were doing, saw it was wrong and took it upon yourself to rectify it, despite knowing what it could cost.” Percy shook his head. “You had the courage to say no.”

Silena broke out of Beckendorf’s hold and threw her arms around Percy’s neck. “This is why you’re the best.” She murmured. “You always know what to say to cheer me up.” She stepped back and prodded him in the chest. “Are we sure you don’t have a charmspeak gene in there somewhere?”

“I’m sure,” Percy laughed. “You want to go grab dessert together and I’ll go see what’s up with the Pegasi? I’ll let you know how they are.”

“Thanks, Perce.” Silena murmured quietly.

“Thanks.” Beckendorf nodded too before reaching for Silena’s hand to lead her off, back towards the pavilion.

Percy was all too thankful that Chaos had given him such control over the list.

He entered the stables to instantly be assaulted by a hive of active minds. He clamped down his mental walls, preventing them from hearing his thoughts and instantly identifying him.

Walking slowly down each stall, he smiled whenever he saw a Pegasus that he recognised. But, due to his absence, more often than not he walked past new, younger Pegasi who eyed their new visitor curiously. Eventually, he reached a stall that had a familiar plate on the door.

He reached up and gently traced the letters, remembering when Tyson had gifted him the decorated nameplate and had eagerly insisted that they place it on Blackjack’s stall right that instant to replace the standard one that was made by the Hephaestus Cabin. It had been three in the morning, Tyson had already caused him to wake up screaming due to his unexpected drop in. They’d still gone though, avoiding the cleaning harpies who surprisingly hadn’t descended the instant they heard the clanging of Tyson attempting to affix the plate to the wood of the door and accidentally hitting the hammer against metal instead.

Percy had spent the rest of the night calming spooked Pegasi, while Blackjack had mocked him the entire time. It was the earliest he’d ever been to breakfast and Chiron had sent him off with Will to the infirmary when he’d abandoned his last pancake in favour of resting his head on the table while Tyson had continued a stream of excited chatter. 

It was one of his favourite memories of his last few weeks here.

“Hey boy.” Percy leaned his arms on the stable door, eyes fixed on the stallion lying inside with his wings fanned around him. “One of my friends was just in here and she said something about being able to tell that something is wrong. Know anything about it?”

Blackjack snorted, opening his eyes to look at Percy before closing them again and tucking his head into his side.

“Blackjack, right?” Percy grinned.

Blackjack’s ears flattened, an instant sign of his displeasure.

Percy unlatched the door and let himself into the stall, being sure to close the door behind him before he took one or two steps forward.

_ ‘You’re either stupid or Nathan in a dumb cloak.’ _

Percy resisted the urge to laugh, pretending still that he couldn’t hear Blackjack. “Someone I met once told me about you.” He spoke, edging ever closer to the disgruntled winged horse.

Blackjack’s ears pricked up at that and he lifted his head to look at Percy.

Percy crouched down and reached out a hand, letting Blackjack smell it before he offered the sugar cube he’d appropriated from the box by his stall. He sniffed at it for a moment, and Percy let out a small laugh as the velvety texture of his nose was actually rather ticklish, before he delicately took the sugar cube with his lips before enthusiastically crunching it between his teeth.

“Fancy going for a fly?” Percy asked. “We could go for doughnuts?”

Blackjack stood fluidly and swiftly. He trotted forward, passing Percy who had also stood, and knocked one of his hooves against the stall door impatiently.

Percy just laughed, opening it up and slipping out first to lead the way down to the main doors. All of the Pegasi had their heads over their doors, ears pricked, and an accompaniment of neighs and whinnies followed them out.

He clambered onto Blackjack’s back and loosely wound his hands into the thick hair at the base of Blackjack’s mane.

_ ‘Where to, boss?’  _ Blackjack asked as they hovered a fair distance above the Sound.

_ ‘I promised you doughnuts, didn’t I?’  _ Percy responded.

His loose hold did nothing to help when Blackjack reacted to his voice in his head by promptly doing a barrel roll, sending him hurtling through the sky towards the ocean.

  
  



	14. A Family Reunion.

He’d expected that Blackjack wouldn’t react well, but not once had he anticipated he would end up falling through the sky, getting ever closer to plunging into the ocean – something that would instantly alert his father to his presence. He cursed himself for thinking that the claim at the creek during the Capture the Flag game would be the biggest thing he had to worry about in relation to Poseidon discovering his identity, but his problem was about to get a whole lot bigger.

“BLACKJACK!” He couldn’t help but scream as he fell, cloak flapping around him.

Suddenly, he stopped. He realised quickly, as he dangled above the ocean instead of landing in it, that Blackjack was holding the hood of his cloak in his teeth.

_ ‘Boss?’ _

_ ‘Was dropping me necessary?’  _ Percy asked, trying to convey a sigh with his mind.  _ ‘Because I don’t think it was.’ _

_ ‘You scared me, bossman!’  _ Blackjack protested.  _ ‘You were the last person I was expecting, Deathboy came and told me that you’d disappeared. Spooked out everyone in the stable, but it was really nice that he told me.’ _

Percy knew a dig when he heard one.  _ ‘I’m sorry.’  _ He apologised, knowing it was what his Pegasus wanted to hear.  _ ‘I didn’t think I would be gone for so long, and I certainly didn’t think I’d be going so far away.’ _

_ ‘Where did you go, man, I went with Deathboy one time when he was tryna’ find you, but we couldn’t find hide, hair, or feather of ya.’  _ Blackjack huffed.

_ ‘Maybe we could go have this talk somewhere where I’m not dangling over the sea and hoping this cloak doesn’t strangle me to death?’  _ Percy suggested.

Then he heard the slight ripping sound that gave him a few seconds heads-up of what was about to happen.

“FUUUU-”

The water he fell into felt warm and thankfully didn’t drench him, though he knew that it was the powers he had inherited from his father that he had to thank.

It then registered that he was in the ocean. In his father’s domain. Which he had wanted to avoid even putting the tip of his pinky finger in for as long as possible. And here he was, up to his neck in the water.

_ ‘Oooops.’  _ Blackjack had followed him down and was hovering the best he could a few feet above.

_ ‘Any sign of my dad?’  _ Percy asked with a wince, looking at the water around him.

Then he frowned. Even he could see, in the decreasing light of the sunset, the water was changing colour. When he had been flying above it, it had looked far darker and choppier. Now it was lightening back to the turquoise he always associated with it, growing calmer as he kept himself afloat.

_ ‘Daddio is stood waiting on the beach.’  _ Blackjack responded.  _ ‘Sorry boss, I think you’re going to have to bite the doughnut with this one.’ _

Once he reached the shore, Blackjack dropped his cloak on his head, having fished it out from where it had floated away to. Instinctively, he drew the water from the fabric and allowed it to drop down onto the beach, pulling at it so it rested on his shoulders and the hood perched on his head. It was one of the ties that had ripped from one side of the cloak, he’d felt the pressure relieve from beneath his jaw before he dropped into the water, so it did not render the item useless. He’d just have to be careful in a strong breeze.

Realising that he had stalled long enough, he crossed the vibrant golden sands that had been dull and grey earlier to where Poseidon was stood, arms folded and waiting for him.

“My Lord.” Percy greeted, folding his own arms as a barrier of defence. He thought that his feelings towards his dad were ambivalent at best, but when faced with the god, all he wanted was to toss the cloak and mask aside and curl up in the warmth of one of his dad’s hugs. He was still upset and still wasn’t quite ready to completely forgive him, but he also knew that he wouldn’t get the apology he was so desperate to hear if his dad didn’t even know that it was him. And he needed an apology to forgive.

“Hello, Blue,” Poseidon stated simply. “I presume it was you that I claimed last night?”

“You’d be correct.” Percy nodded. “It certainly livened up the Capture the Flag game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nathan look that indignant. He was furious with me  _ before _ the claim appeared, I don’t know what he was afterwards.”

“You’d be surprised by how angry that boy can get when he doesn’t get his own way, his face does this  _ thing  _ whenever I mention Percy around him.” Poseidon chuckled. “You getting claimed, I presume by the creek, is the perfect mirror for how Percy’s claim was announced. Especially since that was during a Capture the Flag match.”

“Quite a few made the same comparison.” Percy nodded. “I think that’s what tipped Nathan over the edge if I’m being honest. That, paired with me completely out-matching him.”

“You’ve had many years to hone your skills?” Poseidon asked, obviously fishing for information.

“I’ve known since I was 12,” Percy responded. “I turned nineteen the summer that I left this world, I’d be 24 if we had aged with Chaos. He was gracious enough to bless us with immortality, so I’m stuck as an eternal teenager. A pain if I ever wanted to buy alcohol and didn’t have a Son of Hermes handy to forge an I.D. He did make a promise to teach us how to adapt our appearances, but he’s not taught a single one of us yet – otherwise, none of us would be walking around with these stupid masks on.” He was babbling, he knew he was babbling, but he couldn’t help it. It was the first time he’d spoken to his dad in years and he wanted to keep the conversation going for as long as he could before Poseidon either realised who he was or made his excuses to return to sea.

“You’d be the same age as Percy.” Poseidon reminisced. “He was 12, too, when he came to Camp Half-Blood. I wanted him to come sooner, get to know him sooner and be a part of his life but when it came to either letting him live a normal life out of Zeus’ gaze for as long as possible, or introducing him to danger before he was old enough to know what danger was, I had to choose the former. He was my baby, see? Triton pretends he’s too old to need his dad and Nathan is one of the worst sons a man could ask for, but Percy? Percy was special.”

“Not just because he was the Child of the Prophecy?” Percy asked, his decision of what to do next hinging on his dad’s next words.

“No!” Poseidon seemed shocked that Percy had even asked. “I thought that Thalia, Zeus’ daughter was going to be the Prophecy child – I had known about her since not long after she was born. Not like Hades, who only found out when she was older and sent the forces of the Underworld after her. By then, I’d had my Percy and quite frankly I would have been a hypocrite if I had sent anything after the poor girl. I feigned my anger, and after she became a tree I was so scared for him because I realised that unless Hades had a child that he was hiding, Percy would inherit the mantle. I cursed Hades quite a bit when he brought Bianca and Nico out of the Lotus Casino, I wished that he had done it earlier so that the title would fall to either Bianca or Nico. Not my Percy.”

“You really love your son, don’t you?” Percy asked softly. It was something he already knew but needed to hear again, straight from the mouth of the god before him.

Poseidon nodded. “When I felt your presence in the water, just for a second, I mistook you for Percy. And then I remembered that he was gone, and you couldn’t possibly be him. It was wishful thinking. I love him, I’ve loved him ever since Sally told me she was pregnant, and I’ve never regretted anything more than when I behaved in a way that made him think I didn’t”

“You know, when you claimed me last night it felt like déjà vu,” Percy confessed. “I remember when it happened the first time, how revitalised I felt when I was standing in the creek and how drained I felt when I stepped back out. It was my first Capture the Flag match, it seems fitting that you claimed me again during my first one back on Earth.”

Poseidon stood as still as a statue, eyes fixed on him.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Percy admitted, voice cracking slightly. “It’s been so hard for the last five years, not knowing whether or not you still loved me or if Nathan was truly the perfect replacement. Then I came home and found out that if I had just stayed a little longer, managed to cope with him for just a few weeks or months more…”

“Percy?” Poseidon whispered, hope lighting in his eyes.

Percy did a quick visual sweep of their surroundings before reaching up and pushing the cloak off – the torn fastenings meaning it slid from his shoulders and to the floor – and threw the mask down to join it.

“Hi, Dad.” He greeted softly, giving his dad a watery-eyed smile.

Poseidon lost the years he’d gained before his eyes, outfit warping into a familiar Hawaiian shirt and shorts, shoes swapped for Birkenstocks. He looked like the father Percy had left behind again. Then he pulled Percy into a tight hug, tucking Percy’s head beneath his chin and holding on as if he thought Chaos was going to appear and steal him away again at any moment.

Percy half feared that he would, he hadn’t exactly gotten the god’s permission to tell people who he was. Though, if he hadn’t appeared to tell him off after telling Nico, Grover, and Thalia, or his mom, Estelle, and Paul, he doubted the god would draw the line at his dad.

“I’m so sorry.” Poseidon murmured into his hair. “I can’t say it enough. But I truly mean it, and I’m going to keep apologising until you get that annoyed about it you challenge me to a duel to stop me.”

“I didn’t mean for you to think that I was dead.” Percy buried his head in his dad’s chest and appreciated the fact he felt as though he was curled up in a blanket by the dying embers of the bonfire in the Amphitheatre, warm and safe. “I swear I didn’t want you to think that. I just took the offer to go and didn’t think of the consequences before it was too late for me to do anything to rectify them.”

“I never meant for you to feel as though you were inferior to Nathan.” Poseidon refused to let him go. “I don’t know what happened, it just seemed as though I was under a haze until you vanished, and I was left wondering where my favourite son was, and who the hell the shoddy replacement was who was acting as if he was the gift of the gods to mankind.”

“What?” Percy reluctantly pulled away.

“I even asked Hecate if I was under some sort of spell, but she assured me that she couldn’t detect one.” Poseidon shook his head. “I don’t know what happened, but I never would have made you feel like that on purpose, Percy, I swear.”

“You’re certain we can’t inherit Charmspeak?” Percy raised an eyebrow, remembering Silena’s joke from earlier.

“You have a wealth of powers that you could inherit from me, but I assure you that Charmspeak is not one of them.” Poseidon shook his head again. “I-”

He was cut off by the sound of a sharp whistle coming from the ocean, both of them turning to look into the darkness. The sun had completely set not long after Percy had walked onto the shore, their conversation illuminated by starlight. He could just make out Triton, several feet out, by the slight glow of his green eyes as he squinted to try and make out the figures on the beach. Percy wondered whether or not Triton realised who he was looking at but knew that if he did, he’d be up on the beach with them, lecturing Percy for making their father worry. He shuddered as he realised that Triton probably thought he was Nathan.

“I’m so sorry Percy, but I have to go. I walked out of a fairly important meeting and said that I’d be back in minutes.” Poseidon looked devastated. He fished around in his pocket before procuring a Drachma, handing it over. “Message me using that? It’s spelled to send basic text, you’ll figure it out. Tyson is still trying to figure out how to make an hPhone adapt to the pressure underwater, as all Hephaestus has done is make them waterproof.”

“I’ll visit as soon as I can. If that’s okay?” Percy bit his lip.

“Percy, I’d have to be dragged away,” Poseidon assured him. “Give me a little warning and I’ll be able to clear my schedule and you’ll be able to tell me about the adventures you’ve been having for the past few years. I want to know everything, even what colour socks you were wearing on any random Tuesday last year.”

He pulled Percy in for another hug, lasting until another impatient whistle forced them to separate and pull apart.

“I love you!” Poseidon shouted as he started running towards the water.

“I love you too, dad!” Percy called after, picking up his mask and cloak. He didn’t bother replacing them – it was well after curfew now and he knew he’d have to avoid the harpies on his way back to his Cabin. Chaos’ Cabin.

_ ‘Nearly gave me a toothache with how sweet that was, boss.’  _ Blackjack snickered from beside him, where Percy had honestly forgotten he was.

_ ‘I’ve missed him.’  _ Percy admitted freely.  _ ‘I’ve missed you too.’ _

Blackjack nuzzled his shoulder.  _ ‘You owe me doughnuts boss, but we’ll do that some other time.’ _

With that, and a quick stroke of his muzzle, the Pegasus took off, flying in the direction of the stables and leaving Percy to begin the trek back to his Cabin alone.

When he finally reached the Cabins, he was surprised by both the absence of harpies and the fact Jason was sitting on the bench outside of the Zeus Cabin. Changing course, he approached him, having missed his old friend and seeing this as the perfect opportunity to speak with him.

“It’s like an hour before midnight, dude, why aren’t you Harpy food?” Percy asked, initiating conversation.

“Piper?” Jason looked up startled.

“Do I sound like Piper to you?” Percy laughed. “Guess again. Going to give you a hint, my name is also my favourite colour.”

“ _ Percy _ ?” Jason gasped.

It slowly dawned on Percy that he had not replaced his mask and cloak, under the impression he wasn’t going to see anyone. And here he was. Talking to Jason.

“Oh, crap.”

  
  



	15. Jason, the Camp Gossip.

“That was supposed to be on your face, wasn’t it?” Jason asked, gesturing to the mask in Percy’s hand.

“Yes, yes it was.” Percy nodded. “I didn’t think I was going to bump into anyone.”

“Need me to pretend that I didn’t see a thing?” Jason asked and Percy could see that he was visibly holding himself back. He could only hope that Jason wanted to hug him, not hit him.

Percy sat down next to him with a sigh. “I should probably say yes to that, but I’ve missed you too much.” He admitted freely, turning so he could face Jason properly. “I’ve missed all of you.”

“Can I hug you?” Jason asked, and Percy could see that his hands were shaking slightly. “I’m honestly wondering whether you’re actually here or if I’m hallucinating slightly.”

“Hey, Jay, no. I’m here.” Percy moved closer so he could wrap his arms around Jason. “I’m solid, see?”

“It’s been five years, you asshole.” Jason cursed at him but hugged him all the same. “We worried so much.”

“I didn’t mean to make you all worry.” Percy bit his lip as they parted, looking at Jason with guilt in his eyes. “I just wanted to get away and didn’t think of the consequences to the offer I accepted until I was sat on a different planet having to write a list of my dead friends who I wanted to revive because I thought I’d never be able to see the ones I’d left behind. I thought that maybe in about 70, 80, 90 years, I’d be begging Chaos to ask Hades to open the Gates again so I could pull all of you out if you hadn’t accepted offers of immortality.”

“Is that who’s with you?” Jason asked. “People you’ve lost?”

“People I’ve lost, people I’ve found.” Percy nodded. “Friends, some former enemies, people I never knew but didn’t deserve the tragedy that their lives ended in.”

“Former enemies?” Jason looked slightly alarmed.

“They’re reformed,” Percy assured him. “But speaking of friends, I’ve barely seen anyone? Nico said that Leo only pops in on occasion, I saw Piper at the Counsellors meeting, but you didn’t speak much? And I’m going to guess that Frank and Hazel are at Camp Jupiter? And I… I saw Annabeth too.”

“Pipes and I are going through a rough patch.” Jason choked out. “A day or two before you came to camp, she started acting weird. And she just turned around and told me that we were over.”

“That doesn’t sound like Piper.” Percy frowned. “That  _ really  _ doesn’t sound like Piper.”

“I thought the same.” Jason agreed. “I just don’t know what to do. I was actually hoping to catch you and ask you about it at some point because I know that the reason you gave us is actually complete bull. You’re here for something, and it’s not rest and relaxation.”

“To be fair, I could have just brought myself, Heros and one or two others along and we could do what we were asked to do and be gone as soon as possible, but we figured that we’d follow Chaos’ suggestion and bring as many people as possible and we’d let them relax back into camp and have some time to live again while I did the dirty work,” Percy confessed. 

“So why are you here, what’s the big secret?” Jason asked. “And that sounds like there are more people than we’ve seen?”

“We got split in two by Chaos, he sent the other half on a different mission with Scorpio, Invicta and Aurum. All of them will be joining us as soon as they’re done.”

“Scorpio, Aurum and Invicta?” Jason repeated. “Why name them and none of the others?”

“I may be named Leader, and Heros my Lieutenant, but in reality, the five of us more or less ‘co-parent’ the group. Invicta and Aurum basically co-parent us too, but that’s beside the point.” Percy laughed.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed the fact that you’re trying to distract me from the question that I asked.” Jason looked pointedly over the rim of his glasses and Percy was uncomfortably reminded of one of his old teachers who used to give him the exact same look.

He looked around to double-check that they were alone, looking at each Cabin to ensure that the curtains were closed. “You can’t tell a soul.”

“That bad?” Jason winced.

“There’s a cult who want to raise Kronos,” Percy reluctantly broke the news, “and Gaia. The gods are concerned that they want to recruit from Camp Half-Blood as younger minds are easier to influence. Zeus and Hades are the ones who sent me with Chaos, they asked for us to come and figure out what’s going on. Because a bunch of dead demigods who are living again are apparently less suspicious than the gods themselves visiting.”

“ _ A cult _ ?” Jason repeated, an expression of disbelief on his face. “There’s a cult in camp?” 

“A cult  _ might  _ be in camp.” Percy corrected. “That’s what we have to find out and then deal with.”

“You don’t think Pipes…” Jason trailed off, looking unsure.

“No.” Percy shook his head. “She has more sense.” The latter half of the sentence was what he hoped to be true, but he wasn’t certain about the former. He just wanted to distract Jason. “I’m praying to the entire Pantheon that Nathan has a hand in it.”

“That would be perfect.” Jason grinned.

“How is everyone else?” Percy asked. “What have I missed, what has Neeks avoided telling me?”

“Well, obviously Hazel and Frank are currently at Camp Jupiter, or you would have seen them by now. They’ll be arriving in the next few days though. You know that Hazel got granted the rest of this life of Earth and Frank’s life no longer depends on a burnt stick, so they’re both enjoying life and growing up. Hazel gets to see Pluto a lot, though I think he’s Hades more often than not. They’re still dating, inseparable they are.” Jason smiled fondly at the thought of them. “Leo, well… How do I explain Leo?”

“I think we asked that question a lot when we were on the  _ Argo. _ ” Percy laughed. “Nico said that he’s not here much?”

“Searching for something, he won’t say what. Says he’s searching for you and something personal.” Jason sighed. “He finished school while living at your mom’s, but since then he’s spent more time away than he has here. We never know what continent he’s on, let alone the city. I get postcards a lot, which is more than what some people get. His Cabin insists that they don’t want to replace him as Head Counsellor and just bicker over who to send as the honorary lead. If he’s here, they usually insist on having the meeting just so he can be sent. We’re hoping that he comes back soon. It’d be good for him to see you, meet some of the people in your ranks.”

“We have Beckendorf with us, the old Hephaestus Head Counsellor.” Percy nodded. “If Leo visits while we’re here, I’ll send Beck after him, I’m sure they’ll be fascinated with each other. Plus, I think he’ll cry if Leo lets him see Festus. He was the one who found him the first time.”

“You want to talk about Annabeth?” Jason asked tentatively.

“How is she?” Percy asked, old feelings stirring in his chest. All of the romantic love and affection of his feelings had been largely vanquished and all that remained were the bonds of friendship that had been there since he was twelve. 

“She feels guilty,” Jason admitted, “for the part she played in you leaving camp. She wishes that she’d been warier of Nathan, that she’d treated him with the same suspicion she treated you with when you first arrived. She was devastated when we realised that you were gone and we searched the surrounding areas because Chiron worried that you’d just gone for a walk and encountered something nasty. Something about a pit scorpion?” Percy winced at the old reminder of Luke’s first betrayal. “You do know that we found Riptide covered in your blood, don’t you? Your bloody handprint and the ground underfoot was sodden. There was monster dust too, and a trail that led away. We burnt a shroud and Riptide is in a glass case in the Big House. It was only when Poseidon began to deteriorate and say he couldn’t find you, you were lost and he could only feel your life force that we realised you were still alive. And then we thought you were getting tortured by whatever had carried your body off.”

Percy felt sick. “I’m sorry.”

“Perce, you were, you are, like a brother to me.” Jason shook his head. “We let Nico light the shroud, but there was very nearly a fight over who got to hold the torch. Annabeth said she didn’t deserve too, Thalia was adamant that you weren’t dead so she refused. She said that you’d turned up to interrupt one shroud burning, you’d turn up for that one too. The rest of us nearly argued about it in front of the pyre until we realised Nico and Leo were the ones living with you. Nico held the torch and Leo lit that, said he couldn’t bring himself to light the shroud. Neither of them thought you were dead, but nobody wanted to admit that until afterwards.”

“Zeus and Hades promised they’d answer any questions, I thought they’d just mutter something about me begging them for a mortal life and leave it at that.” Percy shook his head. “Not fake an especially brutal death so close to camp for you all to find.”

“It was Riptide that had me convinced,” Jason admitted. “I knew that it always returned to your pocket, I didn’t understand why it wouldn’t if you were alive.”

“If I went and touched it, it would return to me again.” Percy nodded. “Hades did a bit of trickery on it.”

“I’m sure someone could make a pretty convincing replica if you wanted to reclaim it?” Jason suggested.

“Not just yet.” Percy shook his head. “I don’t need to draw more attention to myself right now. This really was supposed to be a stealth mission and I wasn’t supposed to be the one who had the most interaction with the campers.”

“Can I meet some of your fellows?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know who will still be awake, but yes.” Percy nodded, standing. This time, he ensured that he wrapped his cape around his shoulders, sticking the mask in a pocket. It was only a short walk from Jason’s Cabin to their temporary home, but he didn’t want anyone hearing movement and opening the curtains to see him stood with Jason. He’d risked enough leaving it off while they had been sat down. The tie that had ripped earlier was a pain, but he could still just about loop the intact string with the remains of the snapped piece to lace them together at the base of his throat.

They had walked halfway down the Cabins before Jason shivered suddenly, looking around in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Percy asked, confused.

“I feel like we’re being watched.”

  
  



	16. Cult Chatter.

Percy was on guard instantly, Jason’s words highlighting what the feeling he’d felt since leaving the beach actually was. He’d felt uncomfortable as he walked, but he had dismissed it as the aftermath of reconciling with his father for the first time. In reality, he was unnerved because that feeling of eyes on the back of his head was a familiar one, one that had earned its familiarity through war and carnage, peace and quiet. He had always had eyes on him, eyes watching to see if he would lead or fail. Gods, fellow campers, Chaos, and his companions.

“I feel the same,” he confessed, looking around warily as his hands went to his pockets. “I just thought I was too on edge.”

“I don’t think a lighter and a Swiss army knife are going to be much help.” Jason frowned, eyeing the objects in his hands with curiosity.

“We literally just discussed Riptide, which is usually a pen.” Percy pointed out. “And you’ve got your coin that can either be a spear or sword.”

“What are they then?” Jason asked, fascinated and distracted from their potential problem.

“Both swords.” Percy demonstrated by clicking the lighter and flicking open the knife attachment to reveal twin swords.

“I want a pair.” Jason declared in a heartbeat. 

“Like them?” Percy asked, wiggling them in his direction in an attempt to show them off like a child would with their favourite toy. To be fair, it was a fairly accurate comparison. He did like to show off his swords, they were one of his most prized possessions. Neither of them could replace Riptide but they came fairly damn close.

“Neat!” There was a fiery blur and suddenly Leo was there, peering at and examining the blades. “Imperial Gold and Stygian Iron, right?”

“Leo?” Jason yelped.

“In the flesh.” Leo declared happily before looking up and staring at Percy. “You have some serious explaining to do.”

“So do you.” Percy retorted. “Came all this way to see you and you weren’t even here when I arrived.”

“I was hardly expecting you,” Leo argued. “I nearly had a heart attack when the dolphin dumped me on the beach after giving me a lift back from the forge and I saw you with your dad.”

“You told me that you were in New Zealand!” Jason protested loudly.

“I was.” Leo shrugged before focusing his attention back on the swords. “Do these beautiful girls have names?”

“Maelstrom and Stormbringer,” Percy responded. “Do you want some alone time with them or do you want to tell me what you’ve been doing for the last five years?”

“Do you want to tell  _ me  _ what  _ you’ve  _ been doing for the last five years?” Leo countered.

“Yes.” Percy nodded.

“Oh.” Leo looked taken back. “Honestly, I was expecting a no.”

“I would have told you the first night we were here, if you had been here.” Percy shrugged. “I told Nic, Thals and Grover. Just admitted who I was to my dad. And Jay.”

“What’s with the funky cape?” Leo asked. “Have you joined a cult? If you’re in a cult, call your dad.”

“I can assure you that I’m not in a cult.” Percy drawled. “Are you?”

“Why would you think I’m in a cult?” Leo laughed. “If someone looked at the three of us, they’d totally say that you’re the one in a cult.”

“Can we  _ please  _ stop discussing cults?” Percy groaned. “Or at least take this somewhere else?”

“Can you at least tell me why you’re wearing the funky cloak?” Leo frowned. “Unless it’s an invisibility cloak that hides you from Nathan. Then I fully understand why.”

“Gods, I forgot how much you talk,” Percy muttered. “Both of you, come with me.”

“What is that and when in Hades did it get built?”

Percy laughed at Leo’s reaction to the Chaos Cabin, thinking it was a fair reaction. It dwarfed Nico’s, making it look like sunshine and rainbows in comparison to the spires and darkness of their miniature castle. If Percy had gotten his way, it would have blended in well with the mismatch of the other Cabins. Unfortunately, Chaos had gotten his. And his idea of inconspicuous was a miniaturised castle that could have been plucked straight from gothic literature.

Percy hated it.

“It’s ugly, that’s what it is,” Percy huffed. He opened the door and stuck his head in, gesturing for the other two to wait one second behind him. “I’m bringing Jason and Leo through if anyone is still up!” He called inside as a warning before stepping in and continuing. “It’s currently what I call home, though I would much rather move back into  _ my  _ Cabin and turn out the current unwelcome inhabitant.” He removed the cloak with ease due to the snapped fastening and carried it on his arm, stifling laughter at the expense of the various members who were still up and lounging around the living room, all of whom had all lifted cushions and blankets to cover their faces apart from Bianca.

“Duel him for it,” Leo suggested, completely oblivious to the people in the room they’d just passed as Percy led them towards the main staircase. “Please, I’d love to see it.”

“You’ve already missed it.” Jason cackled. “We had a Capture the Flag match the first evening they were in camp, Camp v Chaos Group and Hunters. Percy annihilated him.”

“Sorry about that by the way, I never did apologise for soaking you.” Percy grinned.

The one that Jason returned was good-natured. “All is fair in love and war. It was also an excellent way of causing conflict between me and the idiot, though I don’t need much of an excuse.”

“Will one of you please tell me what in Hades is going on?” Leo asked, voice slightly plaintive.

“Sorry, Leo.” Percy winced, realising that they’d barely slowed down enough for Leo to catch up. “In here, come on.”

He opened the door to his bedroom and went to flick the lightswitch, only to find it already on and the room occupied.

“Do you have any sense of urgency, at all?” Nico asked from where he was lounging on Percy’s bed. “I’ve been waiting for ages to hear how it went-“ He rolled and saw Jason and Leo. “They’re new.”

“Nico!” Leo exclaimed delightedly, flinging himself on top of the son of Hades. “Tell me that you’re sane and will tell me what’s going on?”

“Leo!” Nico yelped, muffled by Leo’s hair in his mouth.

“They keep talking about weird things and I think Percy is in a cult now because he wears a weird cloak and hides his face from things,” Leo babbled. “Things being campers.”

“You missed their arrival.” Jason laughed. “It honestly looked like a cult was invading.”

“I’m not in a cult!” Percy protested.

“Can confirm, he’s not in a cult,” Nico spoke up, shoving Leo off him. “He’s here to investigate a cult. I think he’s trying to blend in.”

“None of you appreciate the  _ aesthetic _ !” Percy huffed, throwing the cloak onto the chair at his desk.

“Can you  _ spell  _ aesthetic?” Nico teased.

“Can you?” Percy retorted. “I know that you just copy yours off your dad.”

“Low blow dude, low blow.” Leo whistled.

“I’ll have you know that not everything hanging in my closet is black now.” Nico huffed, tugging on his dark green t-shirt to demonstrate. “And I’m not hiding in it anymore.”

“Be glad you’ve missed his sense of humour.” Leo groaned, shaking his head. “It’s a mix of dad jokes, quotes and references.”

“Just like Perce,” Luke drawled from the doorway.

Percy had to suppress a gasp. Luke, who wasn’t wearing a mask or cloak, had a vulnerable expression on his face. His Lieutenant had been adamant that he didn’t want people to know who he was, didn’t want to face his past or the people that would have been in his future if he had lived on. Yet there he was, stood in Percy’s doorway, revealing himself to some of the most important people in Percy’s life.

He looked terrified.

“I don’t think we’ve ever met.” Jason walked forward and offered a hand to Luke who shook it, a shocked expression on his face.

“Well, we’ve never met without you being possessed.” Nico arched an eyebrow.

“Luke Castellan,” Luke introduced himself to Jason. “Bet you’re regretting shaking the hand now.”

“Like he said,” Jason jerked a thumb towards Nico. “You were possessed. You sacrificed yourself. That’s all that matters to me.”

“We have this argument regularly,” Percy informed them. “He’s yet to believe it.”

“I let him possess me,” Luke muttered bitterly.

“He brainwashed you,” Percy countered. “And you refused him when it mattered.”

“Dude, you threw a Titan out of your mind. Respect.” Leo grinned at him. “I’m Leo, blondie is Jason. I presume you know Nico.”

“I know, Percy has told me a lot about you all,” Luke smiled shyly. “He said that I’d like you all.”

“Well if you can put up with him for five years, you can probably put up with Leo for a solid five hours.” Jason teased before giving Luke a warm smile. “No, it’s good to meet you. Percy used to tell me about you.”

“All terrible things, I presume?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Interesting tales.” Jason nodded.

“Anyway, I hate to interrupt-”

“I still don’t know what’s going on.” Leo interrupted.

“I’m going to assume that Leo has only just arrived back.” Luke looked at Percy.

“I bumped into Jason after talking to my dad and Leo was creeping on us from the shadows,” Percy explained.

“Wait, you spoke to your dad?” Nico almost fell off the bed.

“My dad knows who I am now,” Percy nodded. It felt bizarre to even think about, let alone say. There was a feeling of warmth in his chest as he spoke, a happiness that he didn’t think he was going to feel again – especially in connection with his father.

“Wait, you told your dad who you were?” Luke did a double take.

“How did you going to see Blackjack turn into you seeing your dad?” Nico asked.

“Why didn’t Poseidon know who Percy was?” Leo frowned.

“Shall we start at the beginning?”

“-when I first spoke to Blackjack through the connection I have with him, he freaked out. He rolled and I didn’t have a tight enough grip.” Percy finally reached the events of that evening, his audience rapt. “I started falling and he managed to grab the hood of my cloak. We bickered for a few moments and then one of the ties snapped. He was left with a mouth of cloak and I fell into the ocean. Blackjack warned me that my dad was stood on the beach and I knew I couldn’t exactly avoid him.”

“Did he know it was you?” Nico asked.

“Blackjack dropped my cloak on me before I came properly into sight, so I hid behind that. We spoke for a while and the topic turned to me. He told me his regrets and unhappiness unprompted and admitted that for a few moments, he thought that the presence in the water was Percy. I couldn’t not tell him.” He shook his head and gave them a rueful smile. “I forgot how good his hugs were.”

“What did he say about Nathan?” Leo asked. “It was weird man, you left and the next time your dad was at camp for a meeting with Chiron about your disappearance he point-blank refused to see Nathan, saying that ‘I don’t know who that imposter is, but he’s not my son, he’s not my Percy’. Nathan was furious, he wouldn’t stop screeching about it.”

“He said something similar, that it felt like he’d been swayed into treating Nathan the way he did, and that when I vanished, it was like a haze had been lifted,” Percy explained. “He even said that he went to Hecate to ask if any sort of enchantment had been placed upon him because he could think of no other explanation.”

“I need to tell you something about Nathan,” Leo bit his lip. “And I need you to not go and kill him straight away. You’re right about this cult, and I think Nathan will be key to rooting it out in camp.”

“What?” Percy’s eyes widened.

“I actually arrived back last night,” Leo admitted, pulling a hPhone out of his pocket. “I had to nip down to the forges and speak to Tyson when I couldn’t find Grover.”

“Why?” Percy asked, intrigued.

“I remembered them saying something about Nathan’s smell. I wanted to ask them about it. Because this,” he pulled something up on his phone and handed it over, “explains why.”

They rearranged themselves so that they were all sat in view of the phone, all huddled on Percy’s bed now. 

Percy pressed play and a scene capturing Nathan began to play.

_ Nathan hurried across the border, eyes glancing over to the sleeping dragon curled around Thalia’s tree. Peleus did not stir. _

_ Almost five minutes later, Nathan stopped. The ground before him was bare, scraped clean of grass and green. A patch of isolated dirt that began to wriggle and writhe before the face of the Earth-Mother formed, her eyes thankfully still closed in slumber – though her mouth moved fine. _

_ “Nathan, my child, what news do you bring?” Gaia asked. _

_ “Mother, you were correct. The gods have allowed Chaos’ brats to infiltrate under the guise of a vacation. They have kept to themselves in the few days they have been here and the Commander has barely been seen outside of camp commitments. Nobody knows who he is, he wears a mask. All of them do.” Nathan scowled. “It’s not fair, I want to know the faces of our foes.” _

_ “Be wary,” Gaia responded. “I can feel the power of Poseidon growing again. You will have to visit his realm and find out what he knows – he still operates under the impression that you are indeed his son.” _

_ “But I hate water!” Nathan whined. “It makes me feel like I’m dissolving if I stay in it for too long. The stupid Commander can control water and he kept soaking me during the Capture the Flag match – I had to spend a ridiculous amount of time with a hairdryer just so I could feel dry again.” _

_ “I care not for your plight,” Gaia huffed. “We need to make sacrifices if we are to rise again. Your brother would not make the same mistakes.” _

_ “That’s not fair!” Nathan complained. “Kronos is a Titan, I’m just a demigod until you rise and bestow great gifts upon me.” _

_ “Your brother will soon reform. And this time he will not fall.” Gaia cackled. “Phineas assured me that he could only pass at the hands of Percy Jackson, and that boy is  _ **_dead_ ** _.” _

_ The ground reverberated, the tremor of a minor earthquake occurring as Gaia reformed into dirt and Nathan was left standing alone. _

__

“I’m going to kill him.” Percy declared.

Nico grabbed his arm, worried that he’d run off and complete the deed as if he wasn’t sandwiched between Luke and Nico himself, with no way of escaping without having to climb over Luke; who would probably just grab him and start tickling him, or something equally bizarre. 

“He’s Gaia’s son?” Luke whistled before wrinkling his nose. “Ew. Gaia has a son. A demigod son. What unfortunate soul has to live with the knowledge they got down and dirty with Mother Earth? Quite literally.”

“I’m going to make a wild guess that they’re already six feet under.” Jason pointed out. “I don’t think Gaia’s the type to leave them living.”

“Six feet under.” Nico repeated and shuddered. “Forever in her embrace, I guess.”

“Please cremate me, I don’t want cuddles from Gaia for eternity.” Leo declared. 

“Can we please  _ not _ discuss your after-life wishes when we all thought that we lost you in an explosion concerning Gaia?” Jason scowled at Leo.

“See, you love me really.” Leo grinned at him.

“I can’t believe that he’s actually Gaia’s son.” Percy decided to intervene with his disbelief before Jason attempted to physically wipe the grin off Leo’s face. “It just seems so unwise that she’d send her son to infiltrate camp when he’s as useless as he seems to be. It’s like he’s  _ asking _ to get exposed and I guarantee she knows that if he is discovered, the wrath of the gods will be brought down upon him. Why would she expose her son to that risk?”

“You’re not viewing things from Gaia’s perspective.” Luke winced. “I’m going to make a wild guess and say that she shares pretty similar views to her son. The other one. Demigods are expendable, pawns of the gods. Our parents have got better, especially in recent years, at ensuring we don’t think they share that view. That they think we’re expendable. It was that thinking that turned me and multiple others to Kronos’ side, where to him I really was just expendable. I was a body to host him, whether I survived didn’t matter, there would always be another demigod to take my place if I didn’t. I guarantee that Gaia is of the opinion that Nathan’s life is one that can be wasted if it means she and Kronos can rise.”

“We have to keep this a secret.” Percy declared, wanting to shift the attention from Luke as he had looked increasingly uncomfortable the longer he spoke. “Lull Nathan into a false sense of security, let him continue on as if we don’t know. Let him think he’s got the upper hand. Who knows what he’ll do if he realises why we’re really here.”

“He said himself, he thinks you’re up to something but doesn’t know what.” Nico pointed out.

“What I’m most interested in is what Gaia said about Kronos.” Jason spoke up. “That it had been said that only Percy can kill him.”

“Does anyone know who Phineas is?” Luke asked.

“There was a myth about him.” Jason frowned. “I can’t really remember it though something about a buffet and harpies? I swear either you, Hazel or Frank said you met him, right Perce?”

“Yes.” Percy responded, feeling slightly ill as he remembered his encounter with the man and the pain of his death that he had relived at the hands of the Arai in Tartarus. “Gaia brought him back last time she was rising. He had the power of prophecy and would warn people of the god’s plans so Jupiter blinded him, placed him on an island with an endless buffet, but made it so he couldn’t eat because Harpies would steal the food from him. He was the guy who told the Argonauts how to get through some rocks. When Gaia brought him back, he lived in Portland and kept the Harpies at bay with a weedwacker when they were cursed to only be able to eat from his table. He’s why we met Ella. He wanted us to catch her in exchange for information because he wanted her knowledge. We made a bet concerning gorgon’s blood instead.”

“Sometimes I forget how dumb you can be.” Luke stared at him. “Gorgon’s blood could have killed you, dumbass.”

“I lived, bitch.” Percy shrugged. “It’s what sorted out my amnesia issue, since  _ nobody else  _ could have  _ told me _ who I was.”

“I wasn’t supposed to know about-”

“Neeks, I’m kidding. I know.” Percy cut him off with his assurances. “It just wasn’t fun drinking that stuff. But it was worth it when I got my memories back.”

“I still can’t believe she kidnapped us.” Jason huffed.

“There’s a few things I’ll never forgive Hera for and that’s one of them.” Percy admitted. 

“Percy’s told me about his experiences dealing with Gaia and the Giants rising but I’ve always had questions he couldn’t answer.” Luke spoke up, eyeing Nico, Jason and Leo. “Fancy telling me all of the bits he conveniently forgot about and the stuff he didn’t witness?”

It was the perfect distraction from the revelation about Nathan.

  
  



	17. Apollo, Disturber of the Peace.

The week that followed felt long, no matter how swiftly time seemed to pass.

It had been hard, pretending that none of them suspected Nathan. At first, Percy had wanted to keep the information quiet, limit it to those in the room. Then he realised he would need to keep those of his team who were currently offworld updated for when they eventually joined them - whenever that may be. He had also wanted to tell Thalia that her reasons for hating Nathan were justified, and knew it wouldn't be fair that she would be the only one in the room unaware when she, Nico and Percy met up. With that came the realisation he couldn’t only tell the off-world team and Thalia, but not those dealing directly with the situation.

So Percy was left to break the news to the rest of the team, Luke and Leo’s hPhone to assist. Quite a few of them had wanted to go and punch Nathan then and there, baying for blood on Percy’s behalf.

But the fact that they had been in camp just over a week and the peace had remained relatively undisturbed, apart from the revelation that Nathan was the son of Gaia, was nothing short of a miracle by Percy’s standards. Usually at the end of a week anywhere, they’d have two near fatalities, several arguments over how to execute plans, and at least one major explosion at the hands of their resident son of Hermes. As he stepped out of their Cabin, he couldn’t help but look around and marvel at the peace.

“Morning Blue.”

Percy took it all back.

The peace was very disturbed.

He turned and sighed. “Morning, Lord Apollo.”

Apollo gave him a bright smile, his happiness making him glow like the literal sun he was the god of. “You don’t sound all that thrilled to see me, that hurts me here,” he tapped his chest. “Totally ungroovy.”

“How much do I have to pay you to never say that word again?” Percy deadpanned.

Apollo laughed. “Would you rather some funky vocabulary or haikus?”

“Oh gods, not the haikus.” Percy flinched at the memory. He’d tried to erase the memory of Apollo’s haikus many a time, to no avail. Not even the erasure of his entire life at the hands of a goddess had kept them at bay for long.

“It’s all about song lyrics now.” Apollo nodded. “The skill and finesse that goes into tunes, dude, you’ve got five years’ worth of hits to catch up on.”

“Who says I’ve only been gone five years?” Percy asked. “I could have been dead far longer.”

“Someone’s daddio told me that the boys were back in town,” Apollo winked. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna give all your secrets away.”

“I think I honestly preferred the haikus,” Percy groaned.

“Honestly Blue, he didn’t betray your trust. I guessed and he confirmed it with a big, stupid grin,” Apollo shrugged. “He did attempt denial, naturally, but he couldn’t tell me a lie.”

“How did you guess?” Percy asked, tilting his head.

Apollo seemed to sober before him, his smile switching from real to fake in an instant. “I was asking him if he knew who any of you were.” He seemed to retreat into himself a little, making himself smaller when Percy was so used to him being larger than life. “Hades slipped that everyone bar you were souls you fished out of the Underworld. I was just curious about a few.”

“That’s right.” Percy nodded. “My team are people I’ve lost, people I thought deserved a second chance and a few people who I honestly just wanted to meet.” 

“I know that Hades’ daughter and Dionysus’ son are amongst them.” Apollo bit his lip, freely showing that he was nervous. “I’ve lost too many children in recent years.”

“I can confirm that there are some of your children amongst our ranks,” Percy informed him.

“Really?” Apollo perked up.

“I just can’t say who.” Percy winced as he delivered the news. “We made a pact, an Oath on the Styx that nobody would reveal another’s identity intentionally to the gods.”

Apollo’s expression darkened and it was mirrored in the sky above, dark clouds covering the light of the sun. “Oaths upon the River Styx should not be taken lightly.”

“I would never make one if I did not intend to keep it.” Percy assured him, realising that Apollo’s vehement disapproval of them had to come from somewhere as usually, they were the favoured method of the gods to guarantee a promise.

“Hades has only opened the Doors of Death once, correct?” Apollo moved on.

Percy risked a look up to the sky, uncertain whether this line of questioning would end in a storm. “Yes,” he confirmed. “Hades opened them once about a week after I disappeared, once I had drawn up a list of names of those I wanted to pull from the Underworld.”

“Never again?” Apollo persisted.

“No,” Percy shook his head. “He said that he could not risk doing so again for at least a decade after he did in case one of you, or one of the other Underworld gods, noticed.”

“Oh.” Apollo looked devastated. “I had hoped…”

“What did you hope for?” Percy asked gently, knowing that he needed to be wary.

“How much have you interacted with campers?” Apollo asked. “My children, the Head Counsellors… Nico di Angelo?”

“I told Nic who I was the first night we were here,” Percy admitted. “And I met Kayla at the Counsellors meeting. Which confused me because Will was Head Counsellor when I left, but I haven’t seen him to ask him about it.”

Apollo’s expression flickered between grief and surprise. “Nico didn’t tell you?”

Percy frowned. “Nico didn’t tell me what?”

Apollo opened his mouth to respond, cut off by sudden shouts from across the camp.

“INTRUDERS.”

They exchanged glances before they started to run towards the sound of the shouts. Their discussion was going to have to wait.

“What’s going on?” Percy asked when he reached the crest of the hill, Peleus curled protectively around the tree with smoke curling from his nostrils.

“Like, dude, I came with Butch to give Peleus his breakfast and felt totally whacked out about something. Then we noticed  _ them _ !” Clovis gestured to the legion of monsters down the hill. Percy was reminded weirdly of Scooby-Doo when Clovis spoke. Specifically Shaggy, instead of Scooby himself. “Totally not cool, I thought I was having a nightmare or something. Butch said he was going to tell Chiron and told me to wait here and watch them.”

“Unfortunately, I can confirm that you’re awake.” Percy responded. “Unless we’re having a very bizarre shared dream in which you found monsters outside of camp and I found Apollo outside of my Cabin. Same sort of thing really, both are disturbers of the peace.”

“Why you gotta be so rude?” Apollo pouted. “The only dreams of yours I should be appearing in are good ones.”

“You’re a nightmare dressed like a daydream.” Percy deadpanned.

“CAMP HALF-BLOOD.” Someone shouted from below and Percy was swiftly reminded of the field of monsters who were basically stood watching them bicker behind the barrier the Golden Fleece provided. Realistically, they could just stay behind it and hope that they got bored and departed without a fight. But that would only be realistic in an alternate universe.

“Clovis, can you go and make sure Butch has told my team?” Percy asked, wanting to keep Clovis and as many campers out of harm's way as possible.

“Sure thing, dude.” Clovis nodded and started to run down their side of the hill. Honestly, it was the fastest Percy had ever seen the son of Hypnos move.

“I don’t recognise the body, but I recognise the soul.” Apollo whispered beside him, an ounce of fear colouring his tone.

Percy stared down the hill, immediately realising who Apollo was talking about as the sea of monsters parted and allowed him to take the lead.

Kronos’ new host looked nothing like Luke. 

Each time Percy had seen Kronos while he inhabited Luke’s body, he had been reminded of the boy who had seemed like his friend when he arrived at camp; the first one to welcome him to the Hermes Cabin, to offer him lessons in sword combat, and to generally provide Percy with the support he desperately craved after losing his mom and being thrust into a life he didn’t know he had. Even if he later discovered that Luke had only taken such an interest in him because it was Kronos’ will and that he had been responsible for things like the hellhound attack and the goddamn cursed Converse, they’d talked it all through since Luke’s resurrection.

But the man leading the monsters below served no reminders of a lost friend. He was taller, broader, meaner and shockingly unattractive when compared to Luke.

Percy couldn’t help but wonder if Apollo had ever seen the previous incarnation of his grandfather outside of visions and whatever recordings existed, or if this was the first time the god was seeing him in the flesh. The battle with Typhon had kept the gods occupied and away from New York until after Luke had seized control of his own mind for long enough to kill himself and take Kronos to the grave with him, and Percy struggled to think of any other times Apollo may have had a run in with the Titan, obviously not born until after Zeus had slain him the first time. Apollo was very likely regretting his decision to visit Camp that day.

“HEAR ME AND REJOICE.” Kronos boomed.

“Oh dude, he’s totally quoting Squidward.” Apollo groaned.

“What?” Percy blinked at him.

“You, me, a popular film marathon from the last five years.” Apollo winked. “It’s happening and you’re not going to escape, Seashell.”

Percy felt a mix of slightly terrified and another emotion that he could not yet identify.

“They made another SpongeBob movie?” He frowned.

“Dude no, Avengers.” Apollo laughed, returning to his usual high spirits. Gone was the Apollo from before.

“ _ Squidward  _ was in an Avengers film?” Percy was somehow more confused than he was before Apollo promised him a movie marathon.

“We’ll explain later.” Nico interrupted before Apollo could say anything else. “Hello, Lord Apollo.” To Percy’s ears, Nico’s voice was tinged with sadness as he greeted the god, and Percy wondered if it had anything to do with what Apollo had been shocked about Nico not telling him.

“Please do.” Percy stated weakly.

“Hello Moonshine, how are we today?” Apollo beamed at Nico, though sadness sparkled in his eyes.

“I got woken up to fight monsters.” Nico scowled. “Is that Kronos?”

“Yep,” Apollo nodded. “He’s quoting Squidward.”

“BE THANKFUL THAT YOUR MEANINGLESS LIVES WILL NOW COME TO AN END, FOR YOU WILL BE SACRIFICED TO THE EARTH MOTHER TO ASSIST HER RISE!” Kronos declared.

“He’s seriously quoting Squidward.” Apollo clapped his hands in glee. “I should not find my grandfather being here so funny.”

Percy edged forward, to the very edge of the barrier, attracting Kronos’ attention.

“Ah, puny mortal!” Kronos grinned. “Are you ready to die?”

“Are you ready to die?” Percy repeated back.

“I cannot be killed!” Kronos spread his arms in invitation. “The only one who can kill me lies cold in his grave.”

“And who may that be?” Percy asked, though he had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

“Perseus Jackson.” 

  
  



	18. Nico has a Strange Definition of 'Party'

“I hate to break it to you,” Percy withdrew his lighter and flicked it, grinning when it transformed into Stormbringer. “But your information might be outdated. Camp is closed today. And Percy Jackson isn’t the only one who can kill you.”

A lie through and through, but he didn’t need anyone adding up the simple facts that he had been claimed by Poseidon, liked the colour blue and could kill Kronos. He was honestly surprised that certain members of the Athena Cabin hadn’t worked it out yet. He didn’t need to give them any more clues if he could help it.

“You lie.” Kronos snarled.

Percy spun Stormbringer, a bright flash of gold. “Wanna bet?”

“You’re going up against him?” Apollo sounded worried once more. “I’m the only god here. At least give me time to go to Olympus and back to get someone else.”

“I’ve done it before.” Percy pointed out. “And last time the only god I had was Hades and he was fighting on the streets. The rest of you were taking on Typhon.”

“Nobody is battle-ready,” Nico argued, gesturing down to Camp where people were running around like headless chickens. “You’re only in a t-shirt and jeans underneath that cloak.”

“Easily solved.” Percy grinned, reaching up to fish his necklace from beneath his shirt. He’d long since swapped his Camp beads onto a much longer leather necklace that he could hide beneath his shirt since an unfortunate incident on a miscellaneous planet had led to one of the natives grabbing his original necklace and twisting until he was asphyxiated. The new necklace held some additions, sometimes including the signet ring Hades had given him - but that was firmly on his hand that day. One of the additions was an amulet that they all had, enchanted long ago by Alabaster.

“I thought you would have gotten rid of those.” Nico murmured, gesturing to Percy’s Camp beads.

“I couldn’t bring myself to.” Percy shook his head. He very nearly had, but couldn’t bring himself to when it actually came down to it. They were representative of the good and bad times he’d had at camp before Nathan’s arrival, and it felt like a dishonour to throw away the beads that were marked with the names of the dead. He’d kept them as a reminder of the place and the people he had once called home and family, unwilling to part with the small but persisting thought that one day he could return and call them that once more.

He pressed the amulet between his thumb and forefinger, the double-sided trident imprinting onto them before it grew hot and Percy knew to release it.

It dropped back onto his chest, making contact with his t-shirt. The cloth rippled silver before transforming, much like everything else on his body, until he stood there, resplendent in full armour.

“Gods of Olympus,” Nico whispered in shock, eyes lighting up. “I want one.”

“Handy, right?” Percy laughed.

“I don’t want to sound too much like my dear Hephaestus, but what is that made out of?” Apollo tapped one of Percy’s vambraces, metal gleaming against the black leather beneath it. “It’s shiny, I like it.”

“Magpie.” Nico snorted.

“Elysian Silver,” Percy responded. “It’s found in Chaos’s realm and several planets in the surrounding systems. Ignis forged the armour and Incantationem did a bit of ‘hocus pocus’ to give it the ability to transform.”

“We came as fast as possible.” Luke halted beside him. Percy glanced behind him to find Solani, Angelus, Dove, Ignis, Saccharo, and Medicus stood, all armed to the teeth.

It was at that moment that he wished, not for the first time since their arrival, that Chaos had not split their numbers.

“Great.” Percy glanced back at the waiting army, all of whom were growing visibly impatient. Kronos had taken to striding up and down the front line, barking words of what were supposed to be encouragement but just sounded like threats to send the monsters back to Tartarus himself if they failed. Cheery. “Reckon we can take them?”

“Sure,” Luke answered. His tone was a little shaky. “It’ll just be like going to the gym before breakfast. A nice morning warm-up. Right?”

“Men.” Zoë strode forward, arrow knocked.

“Solani!” Percy protested, words not leaving his lips in time to prevent her arrow flying.

They watched as the arrow hit home, turning the  _ dracanae  _ at Kronos’ right hand into dust. First blood had officially been spilt and Kronos’ army was no longer waiting idle.

“Only eight of us were ready for battle!” Percy yelled to Zoë before the six of them that didn’t use a bow and arrow as their primary weapon crossed the border, running to meet the crowd of monsters that were running towards them. Percy didn’t fancy testing the strength of the borders against this many monsters and he knew Peleus would only be able to eat so many of them at a time, restricted to how far he could stretch away from the tree.

“I was bored of waiting!” Zoë’s protest echoed after them. “You were talking too much.”

“Nine!” Apollo’s shout also followed, accompanied by a golden arrow flying over their heads and embedding itself in an Empousa who promptly burst into a shower of dust.

“Ten.” Nico corrected from Percy’s side, voice filled with determination.

“Now you’re the one in a t-shirt and jeans!” Percy protested before doing a double-take. Nico was somehow now in armour.

“Shadowtravel. Has its perks!” Nico grinned before they were separated by a wall of monsters.

Percy lost himself in the battle, fighting with moves that were just second nature by now. He’d had years of practice by now, and it was easy to incorporate his powers into battle. It was also handy that the only person he had to worry about was himself, knowing full well that each person on the field was perfectly capable of handling themselves. And Nico would kick his ass if he dared to worry about him, even if he said it was brotherly worry and not undermining Nico’s ability to look after himself - he knew for certain that he could.

“I was right!” Luke shouted to him as he took off the head of a telekhine, grimacing as he was splattered with a shower of blood before the body transformed to dust. “This is just like going to the gym before breakfast.”

“Enjoying the party?” Nico swept past them, a line of skeleton warriors behind him.

“I don’t see how this is a party!” Percy yelled at the pair of them as he had to duck beneath the stray head of a Hydra, knowing he couldn’t just cut the damn thing off. He didn’t have anything he could use to create fire to hand, cursing not having Leo nearby.

“Seashell!” Apollo shouted, followed by a swift whistle that had all of the monsters surrounding him clutching their ears and stumbling. “Slice the heads off!”

Percy did as the god asked, praying that Apollo knew what he was doing and they wouldn’t end up with a Hydra with double the amount of heads. The volley of blazing arrows that found their home in the middle of each stump answered said prayer, engulfing each one in flames. Apollo winked at him before swapping bow for sword again so he could deal with the surrounding monsters that weren’t exactly dazed anymore.

Percy continued, knowing he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted. He spiralled and swirled through the sea of monsters, slashing, stabbing and slicing as he went. He used his powers to his advantage, a hurricane beginning to whip around him as he spun. It collected monster dust and monsters alike, hurtling the latter far afield where they would land before his compatriots, dazed and easy to dispatch. 

Eventually, Percy and Kronos circling each other was the only movement on the field. The monsters had been reduced to piles of dust, with the occasional trophy providing trip hazards here and there. His team, along with Nico and Apollo, stood in a wide circle, eyes fixed upon them. Percy knew that the border was lined with campers watching, glad that they’d had the sense to keep out of the way when they saw they were handling the issue well and hadn’t just charged in and added unnecessary bodies to the field.

“Who are you?” Kronos hissed, all grandeur diminished. He seemed almost spooked at the speed they had dispatched his legion, which he had obviously thought would prove to be a bigger challenge. It also worried Percy slightly, knowing that they’d shown their hand early and if, no,  _ when _ Kronos came back, they wouldn’t be underestimated again. “ _ What  _ are you?”

“My name is Commander Caeruleum,” Percy responded levelly. “I am a demigod, I work for Lord Chaos and my allegiance is to Olympus.”

“The gods have betrayed you.” Kronos snarled. “Do you think that they care for you? Truly? You are expendable, all of you.”

“A god chose to fight by my side today.” Percy retorted. “My father loves me and he makes sure that I am aware of the fact. I have never been expendable to the ones who are important to me. No parent thinks that their child is expendable, you are the only one with that belief.”

“How cute, you think Poseidon loves you.” Kronos scowled. “Yes, I saw your little water stunts. Your power pales in comparison to that of Poseidon’s dead son, who was only granted such gifts because he was the Child of the Prophecy.”

“You severely underestimate me.” Percy barked out a laugh. “I could have decimated this field without lifting my pinky, if I so wished.” A slight over-exaggeration, but he supposed he could have just stood on the hill and tested the limits of his control over a hurricane.

“You think you are powerful?” Kronos scoffed. “You know nothing of power.”

“How about we settle this then?” Percy suggested, pointedly looking at Stormbringer.

“I shall strike when you least expect.” Kronos smiled wickedly. “Until then, have fun caring for my former host.”

The Titan dissolved into gold, vanishing as Percy swore. He took one desperate swing with Stormbringer, hoping it wasn’t too late. The blade passed through the cloud; the edge that connected first dripping with a small amount of golden ichor, having sliced Kronos’ arm before it had vanished with the rest of him.

It was at that moment that Luke fell to the floor, body writhing in agony.

“Heros!” A cry went up from all bar Apollo.

Nico beat him to Luke’s side by a mere fraction of a second.

“Apollo!” Nico looked up, eyes wide. “Can you help him?”

Apollo was kneeling by his side, shaking his head. “I can barely tell what’s wrong. His vitals were healthy until Kronos dissolved, and suddenly he was on his knees.”

“Did you hear what Kronos said to me?” Percy asked, concerned that Luke’s secret had been revealed in the worst possible way.

“Only that he would strike when we least expected.” Apollo cursed. “I truly did not think that he had the strength to reform.”

“I think it was merely an illusion,” Zoë spoke from behind Percy, sounding slightly shaken. 

“Several of our arrows passed through him with just a shimmer of gold. Even if you are foretold to be the only one to kill him, we should have been able to at least injure him.” Bianca joined in, supporting Zoë’s argument.

“I could  _ feel  _ his power.” Apollo shook his head. “I’m going to have to take Heros to Olympus to determine what exactly is wrong.”

“I’ll come with you,” Percy stated immediately, leaving no room for argument. “You know that the Council will want to know what happened. I can give answers while you tend to him.” It was not an ideal scenario, he didn’t actually want to leave Luke’s side to speak to the Council. But he was willing to offer if it meant Apollo would take him too so he’d only be a short distance away and not left stuck here, pacing the camp and waiting for the god to return his Lieutenant.

“I want to come too.” Nico declared, glancing between Percy and Apollo as if he was concerned about leaving them unsupervised.

“I can’t transport the four of us.” Apollo bit his lip. “Not if I’m sustaining his vitals, and I can’t take him and leave him just to get you.”

“I can Shadowtravel Blue and me.” Nico reminded him.

“You Shadowtravelled to your Cabin and back to get your armour and you just fought a battle,” Apollo argued. “And don’t think I didn’t notice those skeletons.”

“I know my limits.” Nico glared at him. “I don’t need you mothering me.”

“I made an Oath to look after you.” Apollo retorted. “I’m not breaking that Oath, it was the last one I ever made.”

“Apollo,” Nico stated, a dangerous edge to his voice.

“ _ Nico, _ ” Apollo responded, sounding just as dangerous.

“Look, you can hook me up to an IV or whatever if you insist.” Nico crossed his arms defiantly. “But I’m coming whether you like it or not. You can’t look after me if I’m here.”

“Brat.” Apollo huffed, but the heat was gone from his voice. “Fine, you can Shadowtravel you and Blue to the infirmary on Olympus. Nowhere else. And  _ nobody else. _ ”

“Ignis, you’re in charge,” Percy instructed, meeting Beckendorf’s eyes. “You and Medicus get everyone to the infirmary and check they’re all okay, please? Also, can you tell Chiron we’ll speak to him when we get back?”

“You’d better not be injured.” Michael pointed an arrow at him threateningly.

“Apollo will check me out, easy Meds.” Percy held his hands up.

Nico grabbed one of them and they dissolved into shadow in tandem with the bright burst of sunlight that signalled Apollo moving Luke.

To Olympus they headed. Percy could only hope that they avoided questioning for at least an hour.

  
  



	19. Apollo wants to be a Disney Princess.

“How long do you think we have until someone at Camp tells Zeus that we’re here?” Percy asked once he was sure that distracting Apollo wouldn’t endanger Luke. “Because no doubt he’ll visit to ask what happened there.”

“He probably already knows, he’ll send someone along to fetch us soon,” Apollo responded, scowling down at Luke’s mask. “I need to check his eyes and I can’t exactly do that without taking this mask off. And I don’t want to do that because that would be a betrayal.”

“Crap.” Percy slid off the hospital bed that he was sat on and took a few steps to reach Luke’s side. “I can’t take his mask off because that would intentionally reveal his identity and break our Oath.”

“Fucking Oaths.” Nico cursed, tone poisonous. He moved from where he had been sat beside Percy, dragging his IV pole along beside him with a pointed glare at Apollo who had insisted on hooking him up to it on arrival. “Good thing I came along. Looks like using Shadowtravel was a  _ good idea _ for once, who knew?”

“What?” Percy asked, confused. He was asking about the middle part of Nico’s proclamation, not wanting to start off another dispute between the two about the pros and cons of Shadowtravel so soon after they’d finished their last bout.

“I didn’t make an Oath and I won’t feel too terrible about removing it because it means he’ll get the necessary medical treatment.” He grinned. “Apollo, you won’t freak out, right?”

Percy realised with a start that Nico was, in fact, not one of his team and therefore wasn’t bound by the same Oaths. The close proximity Nico had kept to him and the team, along with the fact Nico had stayed in their Cabin whenever Percy hadn’t invaded Nico’s had made him forget such a simple fact. He’d had his brother back and had completely forgotten the degrees that separated them.

“I already have my suspicions.” Apollo admitted, eyeing Luke’s unconscious body. “And it won’t leave this room. Doctor-Patient confidentiality and all that jazz.”

Nico removed the mask before Percy could say anything in response.

“Oh.” Apollo blinked, looking at Luke with slightly watery eyes. Despite his admission that he had suspicions, he still seemed slightly surprised. Though, Percy supposed, there was a difference between having suspicions and having said suspicions confirmed. He then looked up at Percy. “Will he tell Hermes?”

“I don’t think he really wants to tell anyone.” Percy winced. “I was shocked when he showed himself to Nic, Jay and Leo.”

“Hermes has missed him,” Apollo spoke while examining Luke’s eyes with a magically procured miniature flashlight. “He would take messages to Hades, just so he could visit Luke as he passed through. I remember when he freaked out when Luke disappeared from the Underworld. Said that Luke had never given him reason to think he was going for rebirth. He confronted Hades, of course, but Uncle H wouldn’t tell him a thing.”

“I never thought about people noticing who went missing.” Percy bit his lip. “I never really thought about people noticing that people had gone missing. It’s not exactly like the Underworld is a much-trafficked place by the living when you think about it.”

“I thought Bia had gone for rebirth when I couldn’t find her, especially after the time when I was looking for her when Thanatos was in chains. I thought I could sneak her out then but couldn’t find her, which is why I snuck Hazel out instead. Dad told me that she had gone for rebirth like she had been talking about but he’d actually hidden her in the Palace so I wouldn’t get into trouble - this time I thought she genuinely had gone.” Nico nodded. “I never thought to check if there was anyone else missing.”

“Next time, I’ll be more discrete.” Percy joked.

“Next time, I’ll bloody be coming with you.” Nico was not joking.

“I’ve just reached the stage in my life where I can say I don’t have any Olympians actively trying to kill me.” Percy held up his hands. “I’d rather like to keep it that way. Hades would have my head if I took you with me.”

“I think he’d rather me actually be with you than me chasing you across every damn galaxy by myself.” Nico retorted.

“Nico, you need to sit down, and stop being stressed.” Apollo mothered, frowning at the Son of Hades.

“I agreed to the IV, isn’t that enough?” Nico bit back. 

“Percy held your arm down while you swore at me with curses I didn’t even know existed.” Apollo deadpanned. “Sit.”

“You’re not my mom,” Nico grumbled but complied. “I was going to sit back down anyway.”

“Do you ever do anything when you’re asked without complaining?” Apollo teased. “If you’re good, I’ll let you drive the chariot and we’ll go through a McDonald’s drive through - I’ll get you two Happy Meals since you need all the happiness you can get. Anyway, L-”

The god stopped, and not because Nico was opening his mouth to issue a scathing retort. He waved for Nico to shush and grabbed Luke’s mask, placing it on his face just in time for the door to open.

Their time was up.

“Figured I’d find you in here when Zeus told me to track you down.” Hermes was the one who entered, and Percy felt immediate relief that Apollo apparently had godly Spidey-Senses. His eyes fixed on Apollo first, looking him up and down for any signs of spilled ichor. “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t expect to see Grandfather when I visited camp this morning.” Apollo shook his head. “I’m fine. Really Herm.”

“Don’t call me Herm.” Hermes huffed before looking at Percy and Nico and raising an eyebrow. “I thought you had the sense not to Shadowtravel in his vicinity?” He aimed at Nico and gestured to the IV, laughing at the eyeroll he received in response, before staring solely at Percy. “Do you need me to pretend I didn’t see you without that on?”

Percy followed to where Hermes was pointing at the mask that was discarded on the bed beside Nico and promptly reached up to poke himself in the eyebrow; finding that while Apollo had the sense to put Luke’s mask back on, Percy had not had the sense to replace his own.

“Maybe don’t mention it to anyone?” Percy suggested swiftly. “Apart from Apollo. And Hades. And Zeus. And my dad. They all know.”

“Your dad?” Hermes sounded surprised.

“Told him last week, I just haven’t had a chance to pop under the sea and properly catch up with him.” Percy nodded. “I couldn’t not tell him. There was an incident involving a pegasus, a large body of water, a snapped cloak fastening and a sea god waiting for me to stumble out of said sea onto the beach. Confronted with the sight of him, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“Well, darling, it’d be better to head down where it’s wetter soon.” Apollo piped up. “Take it from me, your dad isn’t one to let you off the hook about going to see him.”

“Who made him a god?” Nico groaned and hid his head in his hands.

“Just look at the world around you, Neeks, isn’t your life better with me in it?” Apollo asked.

“I fully agree with Nico.” Percy interjected.

“Per- _ cy _ .” Apollo pouted. “I just want to be part of your world.”

“Hercules was a great film,” Martha spoke up from the staff in Hermes’ hand.

“Oh, hey Martha!” Percy cracked a smile. “Wrong film, please don’t start him off serenading us with  _ I Won’t Say I’m in Love _ .”

“I’d happily serenade you with it anyday.” Apollo winked at him, playfulness in his eyes.

“Did you bring me a rat?” George asked, thankfully interrupting before Apollo actually did serenade him because Percy really didn’t know how to respond to him.

“Sorry George, I didn’t know that I was going to see you.” Percy shook his head. “I wasn’t expecting a trip to Olympus this morning.”

“Every time.” George grumbled. “You should just start keeping a rat in your pocket.”

“George, leave the poor boy alone!” Martha scolded. “He’s been gone for five years and all you can ask about is rats?”

“Rats are tasty!” George protested.

They began to chase each other around the staff, Percy biting back laughter at the sight of the exasperated expression on Hermes’ face.

“It’s like having children with you 24/7.” Hermes groaned. “The pair of you, stop it. I’ll turn you back into a phone and put you on vibrate if you don’t calm down.”

“You have Zeus on line one asking where you are,” Martha spoke above George’s screams of protest. “Hera on line two, Poseidon on three asking you to hurry up. You have over 3500 unread emails, not counting the offers on ambrosia, nectar, and the multiple free trials from various subscription services. I cannot count the amount from your social media accounts.”

“Calls on hold, I’ll check the emails later.” Hermes winced. “Can you just mass delete all of the spam offers and free trials? Oh, and the social media ones? I’m not interested in those unless One Direction have announced their reunion tour.”

“Need us in the throne room?” Apollo asked sympathetically.

“As soon as possible, please.” Hermes nodded. “I probably should have started by actually saying that.”

“Give me a minute?” Apollo bit his lip. “Just need to finish up with Heros and I suppose I can take Nico’s IV out,” he looked at Nico, scowling when Nico immediately went to dislodge it himself. “I did not mean for you to do it yourself,” he scolded. “You know that Grey’s Anatomy isn’t an accurate representation of proper medical procedure.”

“I don’t watch Grey’s Anatomy.” Nico hissed.

“So I didn’t catch you crying over it with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and we didn’t then binge watch half a season of it in one night?” Apollo teased. “Huh, that was one weirdly specific dream then.”

“I hate you.” Nico glared at him.

“Sure you do, Moonshine.” Apollo laughed and turned back to the actual patient.

“Is he okay?” Hermes asked, taking a step towards Luke.

“He will be.” Apollo nodded confidently. “He’s just been knocked with a minor sleep spell. Kronos’ way of distraction while he made his escape.”

“Why him, why not Percy?” Hermes asked.

Percy shifted uncomfortably. “All my attention was on him, he knew he wasn’t getting away from me without a fight. Nobody managed to harm him, aside from a cut to the arm I managed to deal – despite the fact several arrows should have hit him and instead went through him.”

“Question still stands.” Hermes frowned. “Why not take you down, why him?”

“Heros’ connection to Kronos is greater than mine,” Percy spoke tactically. “When I was choosing who to pull from the Underworld, I didn’t choose based on whether they’d been on the good side of any war. Heros and a few others were on the opposing side, I just chose to give them a second opportunity.”

“Percy, my son disappeared from the Underworld a few days after you disappeared.” Hermes took several more steps towards him. “You always said Luke died a hero. Heros means hero.”

“I stand by that, Luke did die a hero.” Percy nodded. “I will never say anything but.”

“Percy, please,” Hermes begged. “Is that my son?”

  
  



	20. The God of the Dead Gets Next-Day Delivery (Sometimes)

Percy winced. “Hermes, look. I made an Oath to each and every person in my team that I would never intentionally reveal their identity to a god.”

“We’re going to have to stop teaching demigods about Oaths!” Hermes groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Can’t you kids just use basic pinky promises?”

“I have never broken a pinky promise, pinky promises are sacred.” Percy immediately retorted before reverting back to the topic at hand. “Look, I would love to confirm or deny whether it’s Luke in that bed, or whether or not I’m the reason Luke’s soul vanished from the Underworld, but I can’t.”

“I suppose you can’t tell me either?” Hermes looked at Apollo with pleading eyes. “I know you would have had to take that mask off to check him over properly.”

“Doctor-Patient confidentiality.” Apollo shook his head sadly. “That’s an Oath I don’t break.”

“Gods above, do I have to do everything around here?” Nico groaned, standing and crossing the short gap between the two beds for the second time, this time minus an IV pole. “I am neither one of Percy’s team, nor am I a Doctor.”

“There’s nothing stopping me from taking the mask off myself.” Hermes pointed out defensively, crossing his arms.

“But you won’t.” Percy pointed out. “Because you want to be right so badly that you can’t bear the thought of being wrong.”

“I miss my son.” Hermes had tears welling in his eyes. “Is that a crime? I failed him in one life, here I am hoping that he’s got a second one. What if that is him and I ruin his second life too?”

“Lord Hermes, I say this with all due respect, but some people in this room would  _ kill  _ for a second chance with a loved one.” Nico sounded so heartbroken, Percy forgot who he was looking at for a moment. “So, if it is Luke in that bed, I seriously hope that you wouldn’t ruin it. Because not everyone gets second chances. Even if they never should have been taken away in the first place. If you have got a second chance here, you’d better cherish every single  _ fucking  _ moment of it, or I’m going to haunt your ass until the day the world ends.”

Percy really needed to corner Nico about that conversation he’d been delaying.

“I want to know.” Hermes nodded.

Nico lifted the mask and placed it on the bedside table.

“That’s my boy.” Hermes openly started crying. “Kronos’ balls Percy, you brought my son back.”

Percy suddenly had an armful of crying god, which almost obscured the sight of Apollo reaching for Nico’s hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. Percy had a horrible thought that he knew exactly what Apollo thought Nico had told him.

“Shouldn’t you be hugging me, old man?” Luke rasped from the bed, eyes open and fixed on Hermes. The resemblance between the two was strong, obvious when Hermes heeded Luke’s sentence and rushed to hug his son.

“We’ll tell the council that you’re busy.” Apollo murmured. He was the one who led Percy and a pale, IV-less Nico out of the room.

Percy circled Nico’s shoulders with his arm, giving him a gentle squeeze. “You know, you can talk to me whenever you want?” He offered gently. “I won’t ask any questions until you want to give me the answers.”

“I forget, sometimes, that you weren’t there.” Nico laughed bitterly. “Everyone else knows, I’m surprised nobody has told you yet.”

“I hate to do this, but…” Apollo glanced at them and the door that led into the throne room. “We’ve kept them waiting long enough.”

“We’ll talk about it later, okay?” Nico pulled Percy into a proper hug. “Thank you,” he whispered into his ear, “for being my brother.”

They broke apart and squared their shoulders, ready to face the council.

“Ah, Commander Caeruleum.” Zeus greeted. “We were getting worried.”

“Are you okay?” Poseidon jumped in before Percy could give Zeus a sarcastic response. “Ignis, your team member only told us that someone had collapsed.”

“It wasn’t me,” Percy assured him. “I’m fine.”

“Nico?” Hades looked panicked.

“It wasn’t me either,” Nico assured him.

“He’s just exhausted from Shadow Travelling.” Apollo chipped in.

“I am not.” Nico bickered.

“Yes, you are.” Apollo retorted.

“I transported two other people and a  _ statue  _ from Europe.” Nico hissed. “This morning was nothing.”

“And you nearly died after that.” Apollo huffed.

“While your concern for my son is appreciated, I can assure you it takes more than a few trips for Shadowtravel to have an adverse effect upon him now.” Hades interrupted, sounding slightly amused. “The shadows are supposed to _feed_ his strength, it is only when his concentration is slipping that they feed from _him_.”

“I’m just tired, dad.” Nico gave Hades a weak smile. “I suppose I am just having a bad day, I didn’t sleep too well last night. Bad dreams, you know what I mean.”

“Nico, it isn’t even mid-morning yet.” Hades sighed, anguish flickering in his eyes though it did not show upon his face.

“A poor night’s sleep and a terrible morning spells a bad day from the start.” Demeter interjected. “You know that, Hades.”

“Every morning I see you is a bad morning,” Hades muttered under his breath. Percy tried not to laugh at the display of the god’s humour, for it showed exactly where Nico had inherited his.

“I imagine your bad day got a whole lot worse when Kronos showed up?” Zeus raised an eyebrow, trying to stop an argument between Hades and Demeter before it began.

“You could say that.” Nico nodded. “Unfortunately, it was paired with the arrival of Apollo, which truly did spell for disaster.”

“You wound me, di Angelo, you really do.” Apollo pouted, rubbing the spot on his chest above his heart, as if Nico’s words had truly pierced him.

“Apollo, brother, why were you even there?” Artemis asked. It seemed that interrupting the arguments of others before they began was the favoured method of prevention that day.

“I needed to have a word with Blue here, I had a few questions pertaining to those in his ranks.” Apollo shrugged as he patted Percy on the shoulder, having stood with them instead of taking a seat. “Plus, I had intentions to check in with my children and my favourite son of Hades.”

“I’m the only son of Hades.” Nico pointed out.

“Hush, Pumpkin.” Apollo grinned.

“Call me that again and I’ll find a pumpkin and shove it up-”

“Ahem.” Hades interrupted delicately. “Where is Hermes? We sent him to collect you and here you are, delivered as if the mailman had dumped you on the doorstep and left without knocking to see if anybody was home. His favoured tactic of delivering mail to the Underworld, especially when he’s failed to uphold the agreement to deliver the next day.  Does he not realise that sometimes we need instruments of torture for the Fields of Punishment to be delivered as swiftly as possible? The adverts that pop up on my computer after purchase are nearly as bad as the shipping charges. ”

“Dad, that’s the Hermes shipping company, not Hermes himself.” Nico somehow managed to keep a straight face while Percy was extremely glad he could turn his head into the hood of his cloak to hide the fact he was trying to choke back laughter at the thought of what adverts Hades could be referring to.

“He needs to have a word with his staff.” Hades huffed.

Nico looked like he was about to try and explain that it was a mortal company that Hermes had no affiliation with but closed his mouth and sighed instead.

“Hermes is just reuniting with Heros,” Percy admitted. “He’s someone that Hermes did not expect to see again.”

“And who is Heros?” Zeus asked.  “The Heros beneath the mask, Caeruleum, before you give me a smart ass comment.”

“No comment.” Percy shrugged.

“Why are we askin’ who the other punk is, when this punk is the one stood right in front of us?” Ares asked while cleaning under his nails with a ridiculously large dagger for such a task. The fact that Ares was using a dagger to clean under his nails was ridiculous in itself, but Percy knew that when a weapon could be used for a perfectly mundane task, the war god would always use a weapon.

“Because five of us already know the answer.” Apollo rolled his eyes.

“Six.” Athena corrected, gesturing to herself.

“Of course, you know.” Ares glared at her.

“She is the Goddess of Wisdom,” Poseidon smirked at Ares.

“I preferred it when you didn’t like each other,” Ares grumbled before going back to his manicure.

“It is rather obvious, Ares.” Artemis sighed, looking at Percy. “Seven,” she stated simply.

“Oh!” Aphrodite clapped her hands delightedly, looking at Percy with glee. “Eight!”

“That’s not fair, you can read his aura and figure out who he is when you’re checking compatibility.” Hera glared at Aphrodite. “He’s unmarried, I can’t do a trivial check if he isn’t married.”

“Hera, darling wife.” Zeus sighed. “He’s Poseidon’s son. Poseidon claimed him. Poseidon has been over the moon since.”

“Poseidon is always excited about his spawn.” Dionysus looked up from his wine magazine, eyeing Percy with distaste. “Peter Johnson, what have you been wearing that ridiculous outfit around my camp for? You know it clashes with the aesthetic of a happy little summer camp.”

“Make that nine.” Nico hid a laugh with his hand. 

“I think the mask is pretty pointless now.” Apollo clapped a hand on his shoulder.

Percy sighed and reached up.

So much for secret identities.

  
  



	21. Poseidon Wants 'His' Kid to be in a Cult.

“Are you certain?” Poseidon’s question stopped him before he could reveal himself.

“Dad.” Percy sighed. “Eight out of the twelve gods present know who I am, nine out of thirteen if we also count Hermes.”

“I always have to be counted.” Hermes entered with a masked Luke following him.

“You should not be out of bed!” Apollo squawked. “Hermes, you should have made him stay!”

“There wasn’t a doctor around to give me orders.” Luke shrugged nonchalantly.

“Can you begrudge me for not wanting him to leave my sight?” Hermes raised an eyebrow.

“Not at all,” Poseidon responded faintly, and Percy realised his dad’s eyes hadn’t left him once.

Percy pulled his mask off and gave Poseidon a warm smile. “Hey, dad?”

He ignored the mutters from the rest of the council as their guesses or questions were answered and headed straight for his dad.

“Son.” Poseidon stood and seemed to guess what he wanted immediately, shrinking down so he could wrap Percy in a warm hold.

“ _ Jackson _ ?” Ares yelped, followed by a sound of pain.

“What have you done now?” Apollo sighed.

“Kid shouldn’t have scared me when I was holding a dagger!” Ares protested as he dropped said dagger, clutching the fingers of his left hand with his right, golden ichor quickly dripping from between them.

“And how many times have I told you,  _ do not clean your nails with a dagger _ ?” Apollo strode towards him, growing until he was god-sized again so he could fuss over Ares’ bleeding limb.

“How else am I supposed to intimidate punk demigod upstarts when they come callin’ on us?” Ares huffed.

“Maybe try smiling at them,” Poseidon suggested. “It’d definitely intimidate a Great White.”

“If you weren’t so damn happy over getting that kid back, I’d fight you right now,” Ares threatened.

“Not when you’re already bleeding, you idiot.” Apollo scolded.

“Who are you calling an idiot, sunshine?” Ares growled.

“I’m brighter than you.” Apollo gave him a sunny smile, grip on Ares’ injured fingers tightening into a painful squeeze for a moment as he bandaged them. “Can we not fight, please?”

“Fine.” Ares relented, wincing as Apollo released him.

“Can we please return to the matter at hand?” Athena asked with a disdainful stare at Ares.

“I’m, err, going to go out on a limb and say that it would be a good idea to talk about what happened this morning.” Hermes grinned.

“I can’t quite put my finger on what happened, I need someone to make it clearer to me.” Artemis nodded, hiding a smile behind her hand.

“You’ve hit the nail on the head there.” Hades nodded.

“Funny, Jackson,” Ares growled. “Talk.”

After some shuffling and rearranging, Percy, Nico, Luke and Apollo were sat in front of human-sized gods on human-sized thrones. 

“So, Kronos.” Percy tackled the elephant in the room. Percy could feel Luke flinch against him, his friend using him for both comfort and support.

“It appears he has risen, though we thought he would never do so again,” Zeus stated gravely.

“It’s why you summoned us though, is it not?” Percy gestured to himself and Luke. “You knew about the cult of his former followers trying to raise both him and Gaia, that’s the reason you gave to Chaos to bring us here.”

“Until we heard about the cult, we did not think he would raise.” Hades pointed out.

“You assured us that the cult was just whispers of rumours, not a threat in any form.” Poseidon’s voice rose slightly.

“Brother, you were fragile.” Zeus winced. “I did not think you could take more bad news.”

“What, like you knew where my son was and didn’t tell me?” Poseidon’s eyebrow climbed. “How you let me think I was going insane because I could still feel his life essence when Hades had every Underworld god swearing to the heights of Olympus that he had passed, but they knew not where his soul was. I thought I had betrayed my  _ son  _ for some brat who can’t tell ice from water, who’s very existence makes me call into question what in Erebus I was thinking when I had him. I don’t even remember who his mother is!”

“Actually…” Percy interrupted the brewing fight. “We need to talk about Nathan in addition to Kronos.”

“Tell me he’s in the cult,” Poseidon begged. “Give me the perfect reason to disown him, please. Even Bessie hates him, and Bessie loves everyone.”

Percy glanced over at the aforementioned creature who was swimming happily in his aquarium. “He’s even worse than I thought.” He shuddered.

“Topic,” Athena called.

All eyes went to her.

“We’re straying off topic again.” She pointed out with a sigh.

“Apologies.” Percy smiled sheepishly. “Kronos first, then Nathan.”

“Kronos first, then potentially disowning Nathan, perfect.” Poseidon nodded.

“How about we start from the beginning?” Athena suggested.

Percy glanced over Luke’s head to Apollo who nodded.

“I woke up thinking about how things had been relatively quiet, which is not what we are used to.” Percy began. “That the peace was undisturbed. That’s when I walked out of the Cabin to find Apollo waiting and I reassessed that statement. The peace was very much disturbed.”

That garnered some laughs and an obligatory protest from Apollo who pretended to sulk, folding his arms and pouting.

“We were chatting, he wanted to know where I had been and what I had been doing.” He adjusted the truth slightly, knowing what Apollo had been asking was personal. “And then we heard the shouts coming from the hill. Clovis, the Head Counsellor for the Hypnos Cabin had gone to feed Peleus and had discovered that there was an army waiting in the field. An army of monsters.”

“It took me a moment or two to recognise Kronos’ essence, I’ve only ever encountered it when he’s been dead,” Apollo interjected.

“I didn’t recognise him until Apollo told me who it was. Same soul, different host.” Percy nodded. “He’s taller, broader, meaner and shockingly unattractive. Nothing like Luke.”

“That boy was corrupted by him, he was never anything like Kronos anyway,” Zeus growled. “This new host was most likely found as a replacement the first time around, groomed by Gaia and fuelled by hatred in the last few years if he is already strong enough to command a league of monsters.”

“He challenged us, over-confident as he proclaimed that only Perseus Jackson could kill him. Ironic, considering it was Perseus Jackson he was talking to.” Apollo grinned.

“We knew we’d only be able to settle it with a fight, it’s what my team are trained for anyway. We’re short on numbers, but we all suited up. Solani, one of my archers fired the first shot. She was bored of waiting. Along with Apollo and Nico, there were ten of us. There would have been more if we had waited for campers and the Huntresses, but we knew that Kronos wouldn’t want to keep talking for much longer.” Percy recounted, condensing it as much as possible.

“Solani?” Artemis perked up slightly.

“Before you ask, I made an Oath to not intentionally reveal any identity but my own to a god to all of my teammates.” Percy held up a hand and winced. “Heros and the rest of the team have also made the same Oath.”

“A stupid Oath.” Ares scowled. “What if we guess?”

“I can neither confirm or deny.” Percy shrugged.

“Topic.” Athena murmured.

“Are you going to remind us whenever we stray?” Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

“I certainly plan to remind you whenever you stray,” Athena smirked at him.

“Save your flirting for later, it’s not on topic,” Hermes announced gleefully, grinning as the two began to splutter.

“Anyway!” Percy intervened, wanting to prevent what he feared would be an argument between his dad and Athena. “You want to know about the fight?”

“Yes Percy, we would like to know about the fight.” Aphrodite nodded, trying to keep a straight face.

“It went surprisingly quickly considering there were only ten of us and a few skeletons that Nic summoned,” Percy responded.

“You told me you didn’t summon any skeletons!” Apollo yelled indignantly, leaning past Luke and Percy to scold Nico.

“Did I say skeletons?” Percy asked innocently. “I must have been mistaken.”

“We are having  _ words  _ later, di Angelo.” Apollo huffed.

“The monsters fell fast.” Percy quickly jumped back into recounting the events of the morning before Apollo tried to murder Nico there and then. “I could see the dust swirling, trying to reform as soon as they were down. It reminded me of then the Doors of Death were open, and they were just coming straight back to life. I half thought that they were going to reform, but I was distracted when I ended up face to face with Kronos. I managed to cut his arm, as he was leaving. It was a swing I didn’t expect to connect but my sword came away with a coat of ichor. When I spoke to Solani, Angelus and Medicus afterwards, they all said that the arrows they shot that should have hit him just went through him with a golden shimmer.”

“It was as if he was an illusion, not fully there yet. As if he had reformed but doesn’t yet have the strength to be corporeal.” Nico spoke up. “I could feel his soul, same as Apollo, but I couldn’t feel his life-force. It flickered like when someone is on the verge of death – but I couldn’t even grasp the flickers of it. Dad might have been able to if he was there, I don’t know, but I couldn’t, and Angelus couldn’t either.”

“You refer to Bianca here, yes?” Artemis raised an eyebrow. “Who has revealed her identity.”

“Yes.” Percy nodded. “It’s just a habit to refer to her as Angelus.”

“He told me that he would strike when we least expected it and transported away.” Percy finished. “That’s when Heros passed out. We think it was to distract us so he could make his escape.”

“Why not knock you out or kill you?” Zeus frowned.

“We’ve already discussed that,” Hermes interjected, trying to protect Luke.

“My soul is connected to Kronos in ways that Percy’s is not,” Luke spoke up, sounding scared to those who knew him well. “I was the easier target and me going down distracted Percy from properly striking out as he made his escape. Even if Percy was slipping into unconsciousness, he would have tried to strike, and if Kronos tried to kill him, Percy would have fought back. And Percy managing to land a blow when arrows had passed through him, probably spooked him. He wouldn’t have wanted to risk a fight with no support, even if he believed that he couldn’t be killed.”

“Your soul is connected?” Zeus repeated.

“Yes,” Luke admitted. “I was disillusioned, I fought on the wrong side of the Titan War. I fought for Kronos when I should have been against him.”

“So, you were one of his followers?” Zeus pressed.

“Would you repeat what you said before about Luke Castellan if he was in this room?” Luke asked, voice now trembling slightly.

“Heros…” Percy winced, knowing where this was going.

Luke had been adamant about people not knowing and he had told Nico, Leo and Jason because they were family and friends to Percy. He’d been revealed to Apollo when Percy hadn’t prevented the removal of his mask and he’d been revealed to Hermes when again, Percy had failed to prevent the removal of his mask – not knowing whether Luke would want it in the light of his father being in such a state, whether that would change his mind. 

And here he was, in front of the Olympian Council, preparing to reveal his identity because Percy hadn’t thought to find a good cover story as to why Kronos downed his Lieutenant instead of him.

“Yes,” Zeus answered. “I would. Luke Castellan died a hero in our eyes.”

“You say that because you think I’m dead and cannot be a threat again.” Luke stopped leaning on Percy, sitting straight to take his mask off and gaze at the gods. “What about if I am alive?”

There was a smattering of mutterings, glances exchanged as the council took in the shock. Percy’s reveal hadn’t been a shock when the majority had figured it out anyway, but this, this was a shock.

“As I said, you died a hero.” Zeus seemed unphased.

“Did you think that we did not know?” Hades asked. “I may have been bound by an Oath older than most of the gods here not to tell who I had released to those who did not know, but I had to authorise each name on that list. I authorised your rise without hesitation. Everyone who does not get sent to the Fields of Punishment deserves a shot at redemption.”

“Admittedly, I was a little sceptical when he told me.” Zeus nodded. “But I agreed with his reasoning, it was sound. You’ve obviously shaken his influence and turned your animosity for one another into a deep friendship, a bond that cannot be broken.”

“He saved my life.” Percy nodded. “I would have died on a stupid classified mission if it wasn’t for him and he would have been the only one to know how it happened if he hadn’t refused to let me die.”

“He had to be alive, just so I could kill him for endangering himself.” Luke grinned.

“Just how many times has he nearly died in the last five years?” Poseidon asked, frowning.

“How about we move on from Kronos to Nathan?” Percy suggested, pretending that he hadn’t heard his dad’s question.

“We will speak about this later,” Poseidon warned.

“Sure dad, can we talk about you disowning Nathan now?” Percy asked, wanting to move on as swiftly as possible.

“I’m always down to talk about Nathan being disembowelled.” Nico grinned menacingly.

“Disowned, Nico.” Percy corrected.

“I said what I said.” Nico’s grin just widened.

“Ignoring Nico’s murderous tendencies, we need to discuss Nathan’s recent behaviour.” Percy couldn’t hide his petty smile. “But, before we do, I have to ask that you refrain from acting. He doesn’t know that we know what we do so we can use it to our advantage.”

“He’s part of the cult, isn’t he?” Poseidon groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“That and more,” Percy confirmed.

“Oh, gods above, there’s more?” Poseidon sank in his seat, glaring around the room. “Come on now, it’s the first time in a while that any of my kids have gone to the dark side.”

“Yeah, it’s also the first time you’ve had kids in a while,” Hades smirked at him.

“Speaking of, dad?” Percy grinned at Poseidon. “I have a question.”

“Yes, son?” Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

“What was the name of Nathan’s mother?” Percy asked, curious about what the response would be.

Poseidon frowned. “It’s been years since somebody asked me that question.”

“Do you know the answer?” Percy pressed.

“No, no I don’t.” Poseidon frowned.

Nico stood and crossed the floor to hand Poseidon his hPhone. He gave Poseidon a sympathetic smile and grimaced. “Then, perhaps, you should watch this.”

  
  



	22. Percy's Plan for Procrastination.

The rest of the gods had crowded around Poseidon to watch over his shoulders, outrage growing as it progressed; to the point of thunder rumbling above, the foundations grumbling and the water in Bessie’s tank swirling.

“He is of Gaia’s blood.” Zeus snarled, summoning the Master Bolt into his hand. The King of the Gods was clearly out for blood, immediately making a beeline for the exit.

“Brother, think about it. Use whatever brain cells still reside in your head.” Poseidon stood in front of him, blocking his path out of the throne room. “Percy is right, we cannot act yet.”

“He is the spawn of Gaia, yes, but think about the opportunity we have here.” Hades backed Poseidon. “They think they are several steps ahead.”

“They are secure in their knowledge, they think that Kronos cannot be killed by none other than Percy Jackson – who they believe to be dead - and they think we believe that Nathan is Poseidon’s only living son where he is in a perfect position as Head Counsellor for his empty Cabin to receive information.” Athena agreed. “We know that Percy is obviously alive and here, and we know that Nathan is lying. We can use this to our advantage and feed the enemy false information.”

“Is this my fault?” Percy realised. “If I had been here, they’d likely have been too scared to raise Kronos knowing that he would not be invincible.”

“They would have had Nathan murder you in your sleep and would have raised him anyway,” Hades stated dryly. “Why else would they have had Nathan pose as a child of Poseidon? He’d be put in close contact to you. Obviously, they didn’t anticipate the fact that his shocking lack of personality would drive you away.”

“I would have never let you live it down if Nathan murdered you in your sleep.” Nico broke the tension with a snort.

“That’s the thing Nic, murder means that I wouldn’t be living.” Percy pointed out. “But you can bet that I would haunt you for eternity.”

“Percy isn’t going to be haunting anyone anytime soon,” Poseidon spoke up.

“I’m going to follow him to the ends of the galaxy this time to make sure he doesn’t.” Nico nodded, and Percy’s heart dropped slightly.

He cast a fearful look at Hades, who did not look happy.

“Not a chance.” Percy shook his head. He glanced at Athena. “I know this is off topic but just give us a second?”

“Take all the time you need.” Athena held up her hands, glancing at Hades.

“I told you once and I’ll tell you again, you’re going to take me with you when you go, or I’ll take myself after you.” Nico glared at him.

“And I said that Hades would kill me.” Percy pointed out. “And judging by the look on his face, I wasn’t wrong about that presumption.”

Nico looked at his dad and Percy could see his body tense and the expression on his face change to one of slight desperation. “Papà.” 

It was a single word that held so much emotion.

“I was wrong to let my nephew go off as I did, I was wrong to inflict that hurt on my brother.” Hades was speaking directly to Nico. “And I can’t do that to myself. I can’t wonder where my son is.”

“And I can’t not know where my brother is.” Nico shot back. “You know what the last five years have been like for me. I can’t live like that, I can’t let him go and not know where he is, where he’s going – whether or not he’s still alive until his ghost appears in the Underworld.”

“But I can’t agree to you gallivanting off, leaving me to wonder what’s happening to you.” Hades shook his head.

“It’s not something I would ever inflict on anyone else,” Poseidon spoke gravely.

“And I never should have inflicted it on you.” Hades apologised.

“I should not have allowed it either.” Zeus agreed, looking slightly apologetic. Which, for Zeus, was nothing short of a miracle.

“Why did you allow it?” Poseidon asked. Percy could tell that they would not be going back to the original topic for some time, not until all of this was cleared.

“Chaos came to us.” Zeus exchanged glances with Hades. “We had met to discuss a few things ahead of the Summer Solstice meet and out of the shadows he walked, power radiating. Even though it was the two of us against him, we felt outnumbered.”

“You did not think to tell any of us? To tell me?” Hera arched a brow at her husband.

“He invoked an Oath that was written by our forefathers, he demanded we provide him with the resources he needed.” Zeus winced. “There was a secrecy clause.”

“And Percy was just a  _ resource _ ?” Poseidon asked indignantly.

“Brother, no.” Hades sighed. “We’ve learned our lesson about seeing our children as resources.” He gave Luke a meaningful look.

“We had a deadline.” Zeus grimaced. “I was prepared to ask Jason, prepared to lose my son so nobody else would have to. Hades was doing his part by offering souls from the Underworld, but he wanted someone living to lead them.”

“And somehow Percy ended up going instead?” Poseidon looked between Zeus, Hades and Percy.

“There were a few occasions when I was visiting Nico that I caught sight of Percy and Nathan arguing,” Hades confessed. “I asked Nico about it and he explained what had been going on for weeks. I knew then that Percy was at breaking point.”

“So, you just approached my son and gave him the offer?” Poseidon’s scowl was deepening.

“Dad, I was going anyway,” Percy spoke up. “I’d written the notes, I’d packed my bags. I was walking over the border when Zeus and Hades appeared. They said they needed a favour.”

“You told him that you needed a  _ favour _ ?” Poseidon asked incredulously.

“We didn’t know what else to say!” Zeus protested.

“You told me that Chaos thought I was the best candidate.” Percy frowned. “You made it sound like he’d asked for me. You could have sent anyone?”

“We could have sent anyone,” Hades confirmed.

“Gods above.” Percy dragged a hand down his face. “You told me that I’d already paid the price, that the price of the  _ gift  _ you were going to give me was one I’d already paid. That I’d have to lose everything, and I already had. I agreed to go because I didn’t know how much of a choice I had and I knew that what you were saying was true. I had lost everything, and I didn’t know where I was going to go.”

“Did you even give him a choice?” Poseidon asked, looking at Hades and Zeus desperately. “Did he know it was a choice?”

“It was Chaos who made the actual offer.” Percy intervened. “He stepped out from the shadows and Zeus left. It was me, Chaos and Hades who discussed the details. It was the proposal that I’d get to pick my team from the Underworld that sold me on the idea. There were people I wanted to give a second chance and people that I had lost that didn’t deserve to have their lives cut short in the way they were.”

“You left him with Chaos before he knew properly what was going on?” Poseidon turned on Zeus.

“I’m not the boy’s father.” Zeus scowled.

“I am though.” Poseidon pointed out. “And you’re the reason why I’ve feared for his life for the past five years.”

“Which is exactly why I can’t let you go with him when he goes,” Hades spoke up, looking at Nico. “I can’t fear for your life.”

“And I can’t fear for Percy’s.” Nico shook his head.

Percy grabbed Nico’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “When I left, I didn’t think that anyone would want me to stay.” He grimaced. “Well, I knew there were a few people, Nic being one of them. But I didn’t want to stay. I couldn’t stay. As I walked over the border, I debated where to go, whether Alaska was a good idea or if I should go further. Then they appeared, and he joined us, and I felt like I had this opportunity to escape. It wasn’t until we returned that I realised what I truly missed, the friends that I had who suffered in my absence. I shouldn’t have run from my problems, it was never in my nature before, I don’t know what prompted me to do it then. I won’t take anyone with me and put them in the same dangers.”

“So, you tell us of dangers and say that you will go again and that we cannot stop you?” Poseidon arched an eyebrow.

“He will not  _ let  _ me go.” Percy pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Who? Cha-”

“Do not say his name, it will only draw his attention further to this conversation.” Percy interrupted. “He doesn’t need to know that I do not want to return when this mission is done.”

“You what?” Nico turned to look at him.

“Nic, you know that my loyalties lie with my friends, family and Olympus.” Percy sighed. “Do you think I will willingly leave them again when I know that they do not hate me?”

“I don’t want to return either,” Luke spoke up. “Where Perce goes, I go. And if Perce wants to stay home, home is where I shall stay.”

“What will you do?” Poseidon asked.

“Right now, there’s nothing I can do but drag this out for as long as possible,” Percy admitted. “I’m hoping to delay doing anything until Scorpio can bring the rest of the team to join us. Kronos’ appearance this morning threw an unfortunate spanner into the works, but I’m hoping that I can spin it into further reasoning for a delay. That we need the rest of the team before we face him again.”

“How many do you have in your ranks?” Zeus asked.

“There’s just over twenty of us,” Percy admitted. “And only about half of us hail from this century.”

“Heroes of old are amongst your ranks?” Athena’s eyes lit up in fascination. “It has been many centuries since I have spoken with any, their tales and exploits are slipping from my memory.”

“You have the memory of an elephant, Athena.” Poseidon grinned. “You could not forget something if you tried.”

“Did you just liken me to an elephant?” Athena arched an eyebrow. “Tell me Poseidon, am I grey and withered?”

“Yes, there are heroes of old amongst our ranks,” Percy spoke swiftly, hoping to intervene before an argument broke out between the two, much as he had done before.

“Fascinating.” Athena nodded.

“All of them are away with Scorpio presently,” Percy admitted as a further distraction. “The group was not evenly split when they were sent away.”

“Would it not be best for you to have the majority with you?” Artemis asked. “So that you hold the upper hand in battle with Kronos. Surely yours was the more important mission?”

“Yes, it would.” Percy nodded. “But with them away, I can stall for time. Spend more time with my family and friends and get to know camp again. I can pretend that we’re observing Nathan for longer than we need to, gathering evidence before we make a move.”

“Are all of your team aware of your plan?” Athena asked.

“Yes, we are,” Luke spoke up. “And we’re all extremely grateful.”

“It was half your terrible, wicked plan.” Percy teased.

“I would never support such a blatant disregard of our instructions,” Luke responded, a smile playing on his face.

“Liar.” Percy rolled his eyes.

“How long do you think you’ll need to stall before the rest of your team will be joining you?” Artemis asked.

“Strength in numbers,” Ares muttered, moodily inspecting the bandage on his hand.

“A few more weeks.” Percy grimaced. “Hopefully Kronos won’t show his face again for a while as they regroup, and hopefully it takes even longer for Gaia to become conscious. We can continue observing Nathan and perhaps get more involved in camp events. More matches between us and them, stealth train them.”

“I’m happy for the Huntresses to remain in camp as long as you need.” Artemis offered. “I think Thalia would suggest mutiny if I tried to pull her away. You are welcome to train them in any way you find they lack. I’m sure Zoë and Bianca will be glad to spend time with their sisters.”

“Pardon?” Percy’s voice rose an octave.

“Solani is Latin for Nightshade, is it not?” Artemis raised an eyebrow.

“I can neither confirm nor deny.” Percy winced. “Oath.”

“Stupid Oath,” Ares muttered.

“We’ll hold off on interrogating Gaia’s boy.” Zeus decreed. “Give you time to gather evidence and things that you can give to Chaos to keep him satisfied with your progress.”

There was a sharp crack, akin to lightning hitting during a storm and Chaos himself walked out of the shadows by Bessie’s tank. “I was mentioned?”

  
  



	23. Recruitment and a Disney Reunion.

Percy’s heart dropped for a second, panicking that Chaos had overheard their entire conversation. But the god’s face was usually an open book and the smile on his face did nothing to suggest that he was angry or irritated.

“Chaos.” He greeted with a nod.

“I would have come earlier but I was rather busy.” Chaos shrugged. He’d stopped walking towards them to look at Bessie, tapping on the glass of the tank like a toddler in an aquarium. There was a soft smile on his face as he watched Bessie swim around, despite the fact the Ophiotaurus was purposefully ignoring him. “Cute.”

“He’s called Bessie,” Percy informed him, hoping to distract him from asking too many questions.

“Let me guess, you named him?” Chaos raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I did.” Percy nodded. “What brings you to Olympus?”

“Well, I went to that little camp of yours first, it was so cute to see them all running around with weapons – none of them had a clue who I was which is  _ terrible.  _ I thought you were going to spread my face to the masses?” Chaos pouted. “I heard about the Kronos thing, figured I would check in to make sure you’re all okay?”

“Would have been better if we had more of the team here.” Luke glared at him. “Would have made the fight shorter and would have given Percy a chance to have a proper go at Kronos.”

“Gosh, look at you both!” Chaos clapped his hands together. “You’ve both shown your faces, I was wondering how long it would take.”

“Is anyone else getting mad Grandmaster vibes?” Apollo muttered, barely distinguishable from the three demigods sitting with him.

Nico slapped a hand across his mouth to stop himself from laughing and Percy and Luke gave Apollo a confused look.

“Movie marathon, baby.” Apollo winked at Percy. Percy didn’t know how to feel about either the wink, the reiteration of a promise to have a movie marathon, or the fact Apollo had just called him ‘baby’ without a blush or the bat of an eyelid.

“The majority of the Council guessed who I was, and Luke revealed his identity to explain his connection to Kronos.” Percy focused back on Chaos, ignoring Apollo and Nico’s suppressed laughter.

“And the rest of your team?” Chaos asked. It seemed that he was ignoring Luke’s outburst.

“Have kept themselves to themselves other than minor reveals. Other than Angelus that is.” Percy responded swiftly.

“You would prefer if your numbers swelled?” Chaos raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” Percy glanced at Luke who nodded in encouragement. “We would.”

“Would Mr di Angelo acquiesce to joining?” Chaos stared at Nico, eyes slightly predatory.

“No,” Hades spoke up, tone harsh and commanding. “You aren’t having my son.”

“It is not your decision, Lord Hades.” Chaos stalked forward. “The decision belongs to darling Nico.”

“You’ll let me come with Percy when he leaves?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Nico, no.” Percy felt slightly frantic and extremely helpless as he looked between Chaos, Nico, and Hades. The latter had an expression akin to murder on his face, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to wrap his hands around the throat of the man wanting to take his son away.

“I reserve the right to quit whenever I want.” Nico stared back, unflinching and ignoring Percy and his father completely.

“Accepted.” Chaos grinned. He tossed Nico an amulet that matched the ones both Percy, Luke and the rest of their team had. “You’ll have to make the identity Oaths of course-”

“I don’t make Oaths.” Nico folded his arms, amulet in his hand. “Apologies, but I can’t and won’t.”

“Ah.” Chaos squinted at Nico for a moment before nodding. “We’ll work something out at a later date.”

Percy couldn’t help but feel suspicious, but he accepted it. He’d talk to Nico properly later, discuss why exactly he was so eager to flee. He had a horrible feeling that he knew the reason why, but he needed confirmation. If Chaos honoured his word that Nico could quit whenever he wanted, Percy would just have to convince Nico to do so sooner rather than later.

“Congratulations on your new recruit!” Chaos clapped his hands together. “Though, I suppose you want the rest of your team to hurry along, right?”

“It would be nice.” Luke’s smile was a sarcastic one.

Chaos grinned and snapped his fingers. “I hope these will do for now.”

They all looked upwards as the air shimmered and shifted, a portal opening wide enough for a human to fall through.

Three landed in a rather disgruntled pile.

“What the fuck?” The one at the bottom of the pile groaned. The other two made no attempt to move, simply lying there stunned.

Percy rushed over, crouching beside them as he tried to identify them by the different colours that lined their cloaks. “Guys, hey, it’s okay.”

“Perce?” Pegasus groaned from the middle of the pile.

“You’re on Olympus, Chaos decided to bring you here without warning either you or the rest of the group.” Percy quickly informed them.

“Belle, your foot is squashing my internal organs.” Aurum hissed. It was him who was at the bottom of the pile, squashed beneath Pegasus and-

“At least my landing was soft.” Sagitta winced as he rolled off the other two, giving him a grateful smile as Percy stood and offered him a hand up.

“You can get off me now,” Aurum informed the lump on top of him.

“I don’t feel so inclined to move,” Pegasus responded. “I know what Invicta sees in you, you’re comfy, man.”

“Peggy, come on.” Percy offered him his hand. “Leave him alone. Come and bother the gods.”

“Ooooh, there are  _ gods _ ?” Pegasus was quick to move, managing to trample Aurum even further in the process.

“Just leave me here to die.” Aurum moaned. “Again.”

“Invicta would kill me if you died, come on.” Percy coaxed him to his feet.

“He’s going to kill me for disappearing on him.” Aurum winced. “I’m not going to get la-”

“Chaos, perhaps you could go and inform Scorpio, Invicta and the other half of the team where you just kidnapped Aurum, Pegasus and Sagitta to?” Percy cut him off swiftly.

“No masks?” Pegasus asked, eyeing both him and Luke.

“Not if you don’t want to wear it.” Percy shrugged.

“I’ll be back.” Chaos melted into shadow, dramatic as ever.

“Cool.” Pegasus had already pushed back his hood and was pulling his mask off, shaking out his long black curls. He eyed the gods and his face lit up into a smile. “Dad!”

Poseidon suddenly had a lapful of demigod who was hugging him tightly as the doors to the throne room burst open and Pegasus hurtled in.  _ Actual  _ Pegasus, with his golden wings and a coat that had a rainbow sheen to its angelic white.

“Pegasus?” Zeus was on his feet, but the winged horse was far more interested in the demigod who had moved from Poseidon and was running to meet his long-lost companion.

Bellerophon wrapped his arms around Pegasus’ neck while the horse nuzzled his back, Aphrodite cooing at the sight as Poseidon followed his son over with a slightly dazed expression of surprise.

“Neither of us is going to have a reveal quite that impressive.” Aurum laughed, breaking the moment that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Disney film. Or some sort of Disney TV show - since apparently they were making a lot more than content just for the Disney Channel now, if Percy had listened to Leo’s absent-minded rambling about streaming services properly.

“Totally not fair, we shouldn’t have let him go first,” Sagitta responded, and Apollo was instantly on his feet. There was a look of sheer disbelief on his face, shock at the sound of a voice he never thought he’d hear again.

“Lee?” Apollo asked, taking a few tentative steps towards him.

“Dad!” Lee tossed aside the mask, pushing down the hood. His resemblance to both his father and siblings was clear and Percy heard the sharp intake of breath that Nico took. He was in his dad’s arms in an instant, all eyes going to Aurum.

“This isn’t going to be anywhere near as impressive since I don’t even have a godly parent,” Aurum revealed himself.

“Patroclus?” Athena was the one who gasped in recognition.

“I was part of a two-for-one deal.” Patroclus shrugged, looking a little lost as he glanced to his side to find that Invicta was not standing beside him.

“Liar.” Percy rolled his eyes and tugged his friend in for a hug. “I wanted you just as much as I wanted Invicta. Hades reminded me that he would not come without you, but your name was next on the list anyway.”

“The three of you were on the alternate mission with this-” Zeus looked to Percy for confirmation, “-Scorpio?”

“Scorp, yes.” Patroclus nodded.

“How was it progressing?” Hades asked.

Patroclus eyed Bellerophon who was engaged in soft conversation with Poseidon and Pegasus and Lee who was similarly with Apollo and knew it would be down to him to answer the questions of the gods.

“We were being dragged in circles,” Patroclus responded truthfully. “We thought it would only take a week, two at most. But it is looking as if it’s going to take the rest of the month as a best case scenario.”

“Scorpio must have loved that news.” Luke snorted.

“You are injured?” Patroclus asked, frowning at Luke’s arm. “What’s been happening?”

Luke’s hand went to cover the patch on his arm where the IV had been inserted and winced. “We had a bit of a run-in with Kronos this morning.”

“You always seem to have all of the fun,” Patroclus huffed. “The most entertaining thing that happened to us was Nemo getting stuck up a tree.”

“I’d ask how that happened, but I don’t think I want to know.” Luke spoke the exact words in Percy’s mind.

“That’s why Chaos brought you here, Kronos that is. Not Nemo getting stuck up a tree.” Percy nodded. “Luke reminded him that the group wasn’t evenly split, so he asked Nico to join and then the three of you fell through the portal.”

“Nico as in your Nico?” Bellerophon perked up, his attention caught.

“You talk about me as  _ your  _ Nico?” Nico raised an eyebrow at Percy.

“Oh! You must be his Nico. I should have guessed.” Patroclus grinned at him, offering him a hand to shake. “I’m Patroclus.”

“As in…?” Nico’s eyes widened.

“Yes, as in Achilles’ Patroclus.” Patroclus gave him an easy smile. Nico looked slightly besotted, marvelling at Patroclus’ presence. Patroclus studied him and gave a delighted laugh. “Yes, you can ask.”

“Maybe later?” Nico asked, glancing at the room. “If you don’t mind?”

“Of course.” Patroclus nodded, an easy smile on his face.

“We’ve heard so much about you.” Bellerophon grinned at Nico. “You should have heard my baby brother here, whenever we asked questions about home he always said that he wanted to introduce us if we were ever on the planet.”

“There’s two of you.” Nico looked semi-horrified, looking between Bellerophon and Percy.

“Oh, just wait until you meet the other two.” Bellerophon gave him a wicked smile.

“There’s  _ four  _ of you?” Nico looked fully horrified.

“Chaos once sent the four of them on a mission together.” The look in Luke’s eyes was a haunted one. “They nearly blew up a planet and haven’t been allowed to go on another mission together unsupervised.”

“It was all totally blown out of proportion.” Bellerophon pouted before laughing and scratching the underside of Pegasus’ chin when the horse nuzzled him.

“Are you going to give us a bit more information than just ‘Kronos showed up this morning’, out of curiosity?” Patroclus asked.

Percy, Nico, Luke and Apollo exchanged heavy glances before launching into the tale all over again.

  
  



	24. Zeus is the Second-Worst Father Ever.

“So, Devil-Spawn is an actual spawn of the devil?” Bellerophon whistled.

Percy nodded before glancing to the gods. “We should probably get back to Camp, see what he’s doing and who he’s talking to.”

“Unleash us on the masses.” Bellerophon’s smile was wicked.

“Is it too late to send him back and swap him for someone else?” Luke asked playfully. “We could have had Invicta or Cera or anyone else, and we got you.” 

“I would happily swap him for Invicta,” Patroclus informed them.

“We know, Patch.” Luke nodded.

“I miss Invicta,” Patroclus informed them.

“We know, Patch,” Luke repeated, nodding.

“It’s not even been a few hours yet.” Lee teased.

“You know what happened last time they got separated.” Luke pointed out, a small expression of fear flickering across his face.

“Should we be worried?” Apollo asked. He didn’t look concerned in the slightest, playful fascination in his eyes as if he  _ wanted  _ the answer to be terrible.

“Invicta got sent on a mission to supervise Poseidon’s pests and he  _ helped  _ them nearly blow up a planet, just so he’d get to come back faster,” Lee told his dad.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about their mission taking much longer then,” Apollo responded cheerfully. “Especially if Invicta is who we all think he is.”

“Of course he is who we think he is.” Aphrodite clapped her hands together delightedly. “Look at him, he’s literally radiating love and happiness.”

“You’re the only one of us who can see such auras.” Zeus reminded her.

“I have a proposal,” Athena spoke up.

“To who?” Poseidon asked.

“Not you,” Athena smirked. “To Percy, Luke and the rest of the team.”

“What kind of proposal?” Percy asked, exchanging uncertain looks with Luke.

“You’ll be going to camp with four additional members,” Athena spoke. It took Percy a second to register that she was counting Nico in that number. “May we suggest making it five?”

“And who would that fifth person be?” Luke asked, expression guarded.

“One of us.” Athena gestured to the council. “We want to keep a close eye on Mr. Burns, you need the firepower until the rest of your team can join you.”

“Who would you suggest?” Nico asked.

“Naturally, it would have to be one of the council members who can  _ fit in  _ with the teens of Camp Half-Blood,” Athena responded.

The room's gaze split between two.

“Unfair!” Hermes protested.

“Why do you think it would just be us two who would fit in with the kids?” Apollo frowned.

“The pair of you spend the most time there.” Ares pointed out. “Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“You visit your kids every weekend!” Hermes protested.

“You can’t prove that.” Ares glared at him.

“I have seen you there!” Hermes argued.

Ares continued to glare at him. “You can’t prove that.”

“He may visit his children, but he is the most likely to start a fight with Nathan.” Athena pointed out before Hermes could say anything more.

“I don’t visit my kids,” Ares huffed, now glaring at Athena. “You can’t prove that I visit them. Kids? What are kids?”

“You know how that little voice in your head tells you to play dumb?” Apollo asked. “Yeah, don’t play  _ that  _ dumb.”

“Come to think of it…” Zeus narrowed his eyes at Apollo, his attention drawn to him as Ares turned his glare to the Sun God. “Do you recall when the Giant War ended, and I was going to strip you of your immortality?”

“You made an Oath not to do that!” Apollo yelped, holding up his hands and glaring at his father. “We came to an agreement, I admitted I was at fault for my part.”

“And I admitted my wrongdoings.” Hera reluctantly admitted. “So you could not punish your son and not your wife without looking like an utter hypocrite. Or without a divorce.”

“Do this and it will never be mentioned again.” Zeus proposed.

Apollo scowled but transformed before their eyes, 24 to 18. His hair lengthened into blonde curls that he tied half of into a bun atop his head, leaving the rest to brush his shoulders that had slimmed slightly but still retained their strength. His eyes that were constantly shifting to match the sky settled on the typical sky blue that all of his children inherited, face becoming younger and far more innocent. Designer clothes were swapped for tight denim shorts that Zeus made a sound of instant disapproval over but didn’t comment on, paired with a white t-shirt and black Converse. He still looked as if he had stepped out of a fashion ad, even when he scowled and produced a cloak that matched the ones Percy and his team wore.

“All of you have different colours inside these, right?” Apollo asked, looking to Percy for guidance.

“Yep.” Percy nodded, showing the blue silk inside his that shimmered to match a crystal-clear ocean. Luke held up his, which was golden and bright. Bellerophon’s matched the shimmer of Pegasus’ coat, Patroclus’ was golden too but it was a lighter shade that he would never admit matched Invicta’s hair, and Lee’s rippled like the sun.

Apollo stared at Nico for a moment before the silk interior that he was staring at transformed into pearly silver. “Can’t have you  _ permanently  _ shrouded in shadows,” he stated, tossing it over. He then produced another for himself, the blue inside matching his eyes and therefore the sky – though the colours shifted in the way his eyes had ceased to.

“Totally doesn’t match my outfit.” He complained as he chucked it around his shoulders. “I love these shorts too, they show off my assets  _ wonderfully. _ ”

Zeus sniffed. “I would have made you scrawny and ginger.”

Apollo’s hand flew to his hair in horror, looking at Zeus with abject betrayal. “You are the worst father ever.”

“Our father ate us,” Hades informed him dryly.

“You are the second-worst father ever.” Apollo amended after a second of consideration.

“Is sending him truly the best idea we have?” Artemis asked, looking at her brother critically. “I could always go and stay with my girls.”

“Alas, dear sister, you hover around them like a moth to a flame, so it would be expected that you join them.” Apollo shook his head. “So ‘tis I who must undertake this perilous-”

“Can we have Hermes instead?” Nico cut him off.

“Nico, I am hurt.” Apollo pouted.

“Papà.” Nico looked at his dad, feigning desperation. “You would not subject your only son to having to live with him, would you?”

“You’re staying in your own Cabin,” Percy informed him.

“Please, I’ve been staying with you for the past week whenever you haven’t stayed with me.” Nico scoffed. “I’m staying wherever you stay.”

“Fine, Apollo can stay in his Cabin,” Percy responded. 

“I don’t think I could inflict that on my siblings.” Lee laughed. “Who’s Head Counsellor now anyway? I know it would have been Michael after me, obviously, but who was after Michael?”

Percy could pinpoint the exact second that Apollo’s smile became false.

“Kayla.” He answered for him. “Kayla Knowles.”

“Kay is old enough to be a Counsellor?” Lee whistled. “I thought for sure it would be Will next.”

“It was.” Apollo’s expression was tragic.

Nico’s was devastated.

Lee’s expression shuttered, swiftly coming to his own conclusion. “Oh.”

“I’m going to need a hand getting this lot back if I’m having to blend in.” Apollo changed the topic swiftly.

Hades nodded, waving his hand distractedly to create a shadow portal – his attention was on Nico. They all replaced their masks, Apollo handing Nico a mimicry of one with a gentle smile, and they covered their hair with the hoods of their cloaks.

Hades pulled Nico into a warm hug before ushering him through, Poseidon moving to hug both Percy and Bellerophon.

“Visit soon.” He instructed.

“I will,” Percy promised.

Unsurprisingly, nobody protested when Pegasus refused to leave Bellerophon’s side; Hades merely widened the portal to allow for him to pass through.

They stepped out beside the Chaos Cabin and Percy ignored the already gathering crowd to swiftly grab Nico and Apollo firmly by their elbows. He made sure Luke was alright leaning on Patroclus before dragging them both towards the Cabin.

“Counsellor’s meeting in three hours!” He called over his shoulder to appease the masses before they disappeared inside.

  
  


“What’s up, Seashell?” Apollo asked as he ushered them both into his bedroom.

He unclasped his cloak and threw it over his chair, mask swiftly joining it. The other two followed suit.

“I haven’t asked. I haven’t wanted to ask.” He grimaced. “Are you both alright?”

“Fine, why?” Nico folded his arms defensively.

“Nic…” Percy sighed.

“I should leave you two to it.” Apollo decided. “I’ll talk to you later, Percy, I promise, but this is something that Nico needs to talk about himself.

Apollo slipped out of the room and Percy heard him greeting Luke before the door closed and he was left with Nico.

“Don’t bullshit me Nic, please.” He begged. “I know you’re hurting, you’ve been hurting since I got back, and you haven’t told me why. I’m just having to guess at what could be wrong and I’m dreading that what I’ve guessed is the truth. I said before that I wouldn’t ask until you wanted to tell me. All I’m asking right now is are you ready to tell me? Nothing more.”

Nico nodded weakly. “I said we’d talk later, didn’t I?”

“Let’s sit down, come on.” Percy gently guided him over to his bed, sitting so that they were opposite, but he could still hold Nico’s hands if he wanted to. Nico wrapped his discarded cloak around him like a blanket and Percy swiftly offered the actual blanket that lay at the end of the bed. Nico took that too, huddling in it and suddenly looking far younger than the young man he had become. He looked like the Nico from after the Giant War, worn out and weary, and forced to stay in Camp by the hand of Apollo’s son.

“Before you left…”Nico took his time, but Percy didn’t prompt him. “Do you remember what Will and I were like?”

“I remember.” Percy nodded, knowing that Nico needed an answer, just so he could have a moment to collect himself.

“I found him infuriating when we were working together against the Romans, I had gotten so used to everyone from Camp either being scared of me or just straight up avoiding me and all he did was try and boss  _ me _ around and he just argued straight back with me,” Nico recounted. “I just remember thinking about when I arrived at Camp for the first time and Thalia called Apollo hot; which, when looking back now, was the  _ worst  _ thing I could have remembered about Apollo. Then we watched as Octavian killed himself and I thought he’d be horrified that I didn’t do anything to stop him-”

Nico choked on a sob.

“Octavian launching himself at Gaia as a fiery ball of Augur wasn’t your fault,” Percy comforted. “And I know full well that Will didn’t blame you.”

“I know, I just wonder what might have happened if Octavian hadn’t died and I didn’t spend time avoiding Will because of it,” Nico confessed. “Maybe we would have had more time.”

“Nico?” Percy questioned the sentence softly.

“It was awkward after that, for a while,” Nico explained. “Those three days I spent in the infirmary seemed like they’d taken place in our own little world but it didn’t translate back into real life. We were confused, there were mixed messages and he was hurt because he thought I was leaving for the Underworld again at the end of the holidays.”

“I remember,” Percy quirked a smile. “You were actually coming home with me and Leo but you didn’t tell him that. Which I know because  _ I  _ was the one who mentioned it and I thought he was about to cart me off to the infirmary to get my head checked.”

“He was so mad at me about that!” Nico managed a smile.

“I remember the look on his face, he just looked at me and went ‘Nico left for the Underworld at the end of summer, Percy’ in the  _ bitchiest  _ tone imaginable,” Percy laughed and shook his head. “Do you realise how awkward it was to tell him that you and Leo had been staying at my place for the past three weeks because my mom had forcibly adopted you and  _ you had forgotten to mention it _ ?”

“In my defence, I was only coming back for the joint birthday and welcome home party your mom was throwing you before I was heading down to my dad’s. The next thing I knew, mom and Paul had enrolled me and Leo in Goode and were telling us that we were staying,” Nico pointed out. “I was supposed to be going to Camp with you the weekend he found out, but I really did have to go to the Underworld because my dad was beginning to think that I was being held hostage again.”

“You could have Iris messaged him!” Percy pointed out.

“I was an awkward mess who barely knew how to interact with him in person, do you seriously think I could have managed an Iris message?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Point taken.” Percy nodded.

Nico seemed to sober again before his eyes. “Did I ever tell you when we kissed for the first time?”

“No,” Percy responded softly. “You didn’t tell me.”

“Remember how we came to Camp for the week after Christmas, so we were here for New Year?” Nico asked, though it was obvious it was rhetorical. “You didn’t notice because your attention was… elsewhere…” Percy was glad he didn’t say  _ where  _ his attention was on New Year because he knew the answer all too well. “But he stole me away from the campfire and asked if we could talk on the beach. I didn’t even think about how close it was to midnight, I was just happy to spend time with him. We chatted, I let it slip that I liked him but was worried about what he thought of me after the war and he asked whether or not there was a brain in my skull and kissed me as the Stolls set off fireworks, bang on midnight.”

If it was any other conversation, Percy might have teased him for how cheesy it was.

“We didn’t exactly date until when I was back in Camp for the holidays and could see each other everyday, but we decided to keep it a secret because we didn’t want it to be another story for the Camp gossip mill if it didn’t work out,” Nico sighed. “And it was difficult because I was splitting my time between him and you, and I could see how you were spiralling because of Nathan. And then you left.”

“I’m sorry.” Percy dragged a hand down his face 

“After you were gone, I exhausted myself again, searching everywhere we thought you could be.” The smile on his face was pained. “Will was furious, he told me he’d go to the Underworld himself and get my dad to ground me if I didn’t take a break. It was just like after the war when I agreed to stay in the infirmary for a few days, it was like we were in our own little world again. After that, it was an open secret. Everyone knew we were together but we never felt like officially confirming it. I had to go back to mom’s for school and he stayed at Camp, just like he always did. When I wasn’t looking for you, I was with him. He came with me sometimes as well, insisting that if I wouldn’t stay at Camp again for him to look after me, I’d just have to take him with me. A year since your disappearance passed and I was mad at myself for finding nothing. Despite what we found outside of Camp, I was convinced you were still alive because of the letters you left. All he wanted was for me to spend the rest of summer at Camp and I denied him  _ that _ . We had a massive argument and I left, figuring that we would talk it out when I got back.”

Percy gave his hand an encouraging squeeze.

“I was only back in time to light his shroud.”

  
  



	25. Will Solace.

“What happened?” Percy asked, at a loss of what else to say. He knew it would be bad, he had guessed Will had passed at some point in his absence, but he was unsure how or when. “Gods Nico, that must have been terrible.” He added, pulling Nico forward into the warmest hug he could give, wincing when tears started to soak the shoulder of his t-shirt.

“I wasn’t even gone for a week and he was  _ fine  _ when I left him. I felt so guilty that we’d left things unresolved so I decided to go back,” Nico sobbed and all he could do was comfort him. “Even when we argued about me going, he was always worried about  _ me _ making it back in one piece, the thought didn’t even pass through my mind that one day I’d come back and… Apollo was just standing in my Cabin when I stepped out of the shadows and I cracked a joke about him being the wrong bundle of sunshine I wanted to see. Then I saw the look on his face and I knew something had happened.He just looked at me and told me that he was so sorry, there had been an accident and Will didn’t make it.”

Nico had pulled back from the hug before he had mentioned Apollo’s name, picking at a stray thread on the blanket so he wouldn’t have to meet Percy’s eyes as he explained the rest.

“Neeks, I would have come back in a heartbeat if I had known,” Percy assured him. There was a sentiment of resentment rising in his chest towards Chaos, blaming him for not being here to comfort Nico. And for being the reason Nico was absent from Camp in the first-place - though, the blame for that mainly rested on Nathan’s shoulders.

“You couldn’t have done anything.” Nico shook his head. “None of us could and that’s the worst thing about it.”

“It’s okay.” Percy comforted before rethinking the sentiment. “Oh gods, no, that’s the worst thing to say to people.”

Nico let out a wet laugh. “Mom loved him. I took him home a few weekends here and there because he used to say he missed home-cooked food and, well, he lived here all year. Which, of course you knew.”

“Yeah, I remember him being here a lot,” Percy responded, remembering a much younger Will being one of the campers present in the winter that Nico and Bianca had been discovered. “He was always with Lee and Michael, the three of them were nearly as inseparable as the Stolls.”

“It wasn’t fair, what happened.” He stated softly. “Even my dad was furious about it, and not just because he was my boyfriend.”

“What happened?” Percy asked gently, he didn’t want to push too hard.

“In all honesty, I never asked for the full version of events,” Nico admitted. “It was bad enough that he was  _ gone,  _ I didn’t need a step by step account of how it happened.”

“I can imagine.” Percy nodded in understanding.

“Have you ever seen what happens when a demigod breaks an Oath on the Styx?” Nico asked bitterly.

“No.” He stated. He’d seen many things during his time at camp, but could barely recall if he had ever seen the aftermath of a broken Oath, despite being the product of a broken Oath himself. “I know it’s bad though… But Will wouldn’t?” Percy blurted out, frowning.

“Will didn’t.” Nico shook his head. “Someone else did.”

“Who?” Percy asked, his mind going to Nathan instantly.

“After you left, there were still a few weeks of Camp left. Grover heard from a few other Satyrs that they’d met demigods in places like Disneyland and some resorts, so obviously arrangements were made for them to come to Camp. By then, people had started to get tired of Nathan, so when new Campers came in, he was attracted to them like a mosquito to a blood bank,” Nico explained, grimacing. “Some of them hated him, but some of them loved him. One or two of them he actually knew from school, so you can imagine what they were like. Most of Nathan’s lapdogs arrived after you left, with some exceptions, but Tanner was one of the demigods that arrived late that summer.”

“Tanner?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Tanner Swan.” Nico said the name with venom. “Apparently he’s the son of some TV Actor, which we never hear the end of. Paired with the fact Aphrodite is his mother, he thinks he’s a gift from the gods to women.”

“He sounds  _ delightful _ .” Percy rolled his eyes.

“Will had offered to teach a few of the Beginner’s Archery classes right before summer started as something to give him a minor break from being in the infirmary constantly.” Nico started to say before he had to stop and roughly wipe his eyes with the blanket he had wrapped around him. “Gods, it’s been four years and I cry every time I try to explain it.”

“Hey, no, take your time,” Percy comforted. “We can talk about something else for a bit if you want?”

“I’d rather just tell you,” Nico sighed. “Clarisse pissed Nathan and his buddies off that summer by sticking them in the Beginner’s classes because they were absolutely useless. They took offence, despite the fact that they would have been moved within a week or two if they got the basics down. Tanner was one of the worst, from what I’ve been told and spent a lot of time just fooling around. It annoyed Will, obviously, because it’s not like sword training where they can use blunt swords. And there were kids in the class as well.”

Percy frowned. This was sounding more and more like Tanner had hit Will with a stray arrow, which didn’t connect with what Nico had mentioned earlier about Oath-Breaking.

“Apparently Will snapped one day, sent all of the kids off and lectured Nathan, Tanner, and the rest of them about proper health and safety. Clarisse overheard everything, and from what she remembered, Tanner started laughing and Will completely lost it. He said that he never wanted to see Tanner with a bow in his hands again, because the next time, he’d probably end up killing someone,” Nico’s voice cracked on the final words. “Clarisse said she couldn’t remember the wording of the Oath that Tanner then swore about never shooting an arrow again, but it was pretty dodgy. She was about to step in when Tanner picked up a bow and shot a bullseye.”

Percy winced.

“There was a lightning strike moments later, and it wasn’t Tanner that it hit,” Nico sobbed. “It hit Will.”

“Gods above,” Percy whispered.

“I don’t know how bad his condition was then, I didn’t ask and Clarisse didn’t want to tell me. But she took him straight to the Infirmary and got Austin to tell Dionysus who went to Olympus for Apollo,” Nico sniffed, wiping at his eyes again. “It wasn’t the type of thing that Apollo could fix on a whim, he could only make him comfortable. They lost him in the early hours, I got back to Camp not even twelve hours later.”

“Fucking hell, Nico.” Percy couldn’t say anything else.

“He didn’t even have a  _ chance. _ ” Nico choked out. “And I wasn’t even here.”

“You couldn’t have known what would happen.” Percy comforted him. “And you don’t know how sorry I am that I wasn’t here. Me being gone was the reason you weren’t here.”

“The only person to blame was Tanner,” Nico spoke softly. “He’s the one to blame.”

“What happened to Tanner?” Percy asked, not knowing whether or not he wanted an answer. He knew it likely wouldn’t be the answer he wanted to hear.

“ _ Fuck all _ ,” Nico spat venomously. “It was Clarisse’s word against Tanner, Nathan, and all of their friends. Tanner claimed it was a complete accident, said that he didn’t realise what the consequences would be because he’d never seen an Oath broken before and he thought it would be him that suffered the punishment - he just wanted to scare Will a little bit. Clarisse only saw what was happening from a distance and didn’t hear exactly what was said. And it’s not like Chiron and Mr. D can cast Campers out permanently with no proper training in good conscience - he attends Camp for summers but thankfully he’s not a very powerful force so he isn’t a year-rounder.”

“ _ Nothing _ happened?” Percy couldn’t believe it.

“There was nothing that they  _ could _ do.” Nico shook his head. “My dad came to Camp, he and Apollo were here for almost two weeks arguing with Chiron and Dionysus about it. There was talk of arranging for him to go to Camp Jupiter but Aphrodite got Lupa involved and she declared that she’d eat him alive so it was agreed that he’d stay here. My dad was  _ furious _ . I spent the rest of the summer in the Underworld. With what was happening in Camp, I didn’t have time alone to process what had happened because Apollo and my dad were staying with me, so when I went down there, I spent a week in bed refusing to speak to anyone. Persephone was the one who eventually put her foot down and said I had to get up, that Will wouldn’t want me to stop looking after myself because he wasn’t there to  _ make me _ .”

“Is he here this summer?” Percy asked.

“You’ve probably seen him with Nathan,” Nico confirmed. “You never see him without Nathan or someone else in their little group, he’s well aware that everyone here hates him. Even when he’s in the Aphrodite Cabin, he’s got Drew.”

“I can’t say enough how much I am sorry that I wasn’t here. I wish I’d demanded a way to contact home, other than letters to Hades.” Percy twisted the ring Hades had given to him. “A way to keep in contact with you, Leo, my mom and Paul, everyone I hold dear.”

“Can I see that?” Nico asked, eyeing the ring.

Percy welcomed the momentary distraction, still processing what Nico had revealed. His mind was already racing for solutions as he handed the ring over, mulling over what Hades had told him the night he had given it to him.

“Where did you get this?” Nico asked, examining it closer. “It’s Stygian Iron?”

“Your dad gave it to me,” Percy responded simply. He knew it was a signal from Nico that he wanted to move on, didn’t want to talk more than he had to about what had happened. Percy couldn’t blame him, understanding that if Nico wanted to talk more, he would.

“When?” Nico frowned. “You didn’t have it when you left.”

“The night I left, that’s when he gave it to me.” Percy nodded. “He told me to make my list of names and to seal it with that ring and it would go directly to him. He said anything I sealed with that ring would send to him. I sent him updates through the years, but Chaos didn’t like it very much so they kind of tapered off the busier that we got. I never got replies – I don’t know whether it was because of your dad not replying, or if it was Chaos blocking replies.”

“I wish he had told me,” Nico confessed. “It would have been easier. I felt like the universe was giving me a big ‘fuck you’ because I lost you and then I lost Will. Nathan kept saying, keeps saying, that I’m cursed, that anyone I love will die. I was beginning to think it was true, I was scared who I was going to lose next. Leo kept disappearing and I was terrified he wasn’t going to come back one day, that it was going to be like when he disappeared after Gaia and we thought he  _ wasn’t  _ coming back. I was scared for Sally, Paul,  _ Estelle.  _ I didn’t want to visit as much because I didn’t want to put them in danger, I finished school and moved to Camp even though mom insisted I could stay. And I was scared that if someone did go, if I did lose someone else, I wouldn’t know because  _ I couldn’t find you.  _ Either of you. I couldn’t find you in the Underworld and I couldn’t find you anywhere on earth and I didn’t know if you were dead or alive. And I knew Will was gone, Will was gone without a doubt but I couldn’t find him in the Underworld either. And now you’re here and Will is still gone and I still can’t find him.”

“What?” Percy frowned.

“Even my dad can’t find him, he asked the Fates on behalf of both me and Apollo to restore his life because it was unfairly taken.” Nico continued. “And do you know what they said?”

“They wouldn’t?” Percy winced.

“They laughed, the cryptic carrionites.” Nico shuddered. “Informed my dad that he was not to meddle in affairs he didn’t understand. He was furious. They won’t answer what they’ve done with his soul and I’m  _ terrified  _ for him _.  _ He deserves Elysium, even if he shouldn’t be there for at least another half-century, much longer if I had my way. Dad promised that the day he gets his hands on his soul, if he can’t shove him through one of the escape tunnels – like the one we went through – or let him out through more ‘legal’ means, he’s sending him straight to the Isles of the Blest or letting him live in the Palace.”

“Gods, Nico.” Percy melted and pulled Nico in for another hug.

“I just want to see him one last time.” Nico started to sob again. “The last thing we did was argue because he wanted me to stay and stop putting myself in danger and I said I’d be fine and left and he was just  _ gone. _ ”

Percy could do nothing but comfort him until it was time to go to the Counsellors meeting.

  
  



	26. A Counsellor's Meeting - The 2nd Attempt.

“I believe we need some answers about what happened this morning.” Chiron was the first to speak when the meeting commenced, cutting over the individual conversations and various chatter that had filled the room while they waited for people to arrive.

They were all crowded into the Rec Room in the Big House, various extra chairs produced from around the house so they could jam Percy and the rest of his team on one side of the pool table and the Camp Counsellors on the other, with Chiron stood at the head of the table with a long-suffering expression on his face. At first, Percy had just planned to take Luke and Nico along with him, but after their arrival he had been promptly turned around to fetch the rest of the team. Apparently Chiron wanted to speak to all of them about facing Kronos.

Then, when they finally thought they were ready to start, the Camp Counsellors - Jason and Leo in particular - had been reluctant to start as Nico was yet to show. None of them realised that the hooded figure curled into Percy’s side and keeping quiet was one and the same with their resident son of Hades. Nico hadn’t made any move to reveal himself, content to indulge in the comfort of Percy’s presence.

“Kronos showed up. We didn’t want to wait and risk the campers becoming casualties and we knew he was growing impatient. It would have gotten far worse if we’d waited for the Camp to arm themselves. So we did what we’re used to doing and handled the threat. We borrowed Nico who was able to Shadow Travel to collect his armour and Lord Apollo was here to speak to me about a matter anyway, so he decided to aid us.” Percy condensed the explanation, looking directly at Chiron as he answered. “We went to Olympus to give a report to the gods and so Lord Apollo could check Heros after he collapsed. When we returned I had to speak to my team about something important, which is why we had to postpone this for a few hours.”

“Where is Nico?” Jason asked, jumping in before anyone else could. It was the first time he had asked Percy directly and when he turned his gaze from Chiron to the blonde, he was staring at Percy specifically.

“You went to Olympus with Heros, Apollo and Nico. You came back with Heros and five members of your team that you did not leave with.” Annabeth spoke up and Percy had to refrain from flinching.

“Chaos dropped by while we were speaking to the gods. I informed him that we needed reinforcements and if he could not let the rest of our team join us, he had to let some of them join us,” Percy responded to her, purposefully not answering Jason’s question. “Since more than half of our number went on a separate mission, he stole some of them so that we would have the larger group here.”

“So who else have you got?” Clarisse asked before Jason could point out that he hadn’t answered where Nico was, which he had obviously been about to do if the scowl he was now directing at her was anything to go by. “Anyone interesting?”

“And is one of them a Pegasus?” Leo asked, confusion playing on his face. 

“One of them goes by the name Pegasus, but he was accompanied by his namesake who is just very attached to him.” Heros snorted.

“That’s me!” Bellerophon offered from where he sat beside Chiron. He’d made a beeline for that seat when they had entered and Percy was yet to decide whether or not he should be suspicious.

“And then we’ve got Medicus,” Luke listed, giving time for Michael to wave, “Aurum,” Patroclus reluctantly raised a hand, “Solis,” Apollo nodded at the room from Nico’s other side, “and Exspiravit Rex is the one tucked under Blue’s arm.”

“We just call him Spooky when we don’t want to pronounce the full thing, which is always,” Bellerophon added helpfully. “Since Heros was the idiot who picked it and it’s somehow fancier than Caeruleum.”

“I had to think fast!” Luke argued. “And who are you calling an idiot? Don’t think that I’ve forgotten about what you did the day before we left just because I didn’t get the opportunity to laugh at you for it.”

“He seems like he’s going to be fun.” Clarisse pointed at Bellerophon.

“Like you would not believe.” Bellerophon was likely smirking beneath his mask.

“You,” Luke pointed at Bellerophon, “stay away from those two,” he pointed at the Stolls.

“You’ve just pointed me in the direction of trouble.” Bellerophon cackled. Percy adored him in that moment, for he knew Bellerophon well enough to know that he was deliberately playing up his playful attitude in order to draw attention away from Apollo and Nico. And it was working spectacularly.

“So you’ve got five extra minions?” Nathan sounded pissed.

“Do we look small and yellow?” Michael asked. He held up a hand and glared at Bellerophon, “I beg you not to say what you are about to say. I’m referring to annoying things from a film that moms on Facebook share memes of, not my height or my hair. Which is  _ golden. _ ”

“What’s Facebook?” Bellerophon sounded extremely confused. “And what in the name of Poseidon is a meme?”

“I am the Sand Guardian, Guardian of the Sand,” Travis announced.

“Poseidon quivers before him!” Connor boomed before they fell into each other, trying to gasp the last line but just cackling instead. Bellerophon stared at them, hopelessly lost.

“Is he one of the old heroes you mentioned you had amongst your ranks?” Annabeth asked instantly, eyes filled with curiosity fixed on him.

“It’s not like anyone here knows me.” Bellerophon addressed Percy, shrugging. “And honestly, dear brother, I cannot be bothered wearing this infernal mask.”

Percy held up his hands to show it wasn’t up to him to make the choice, though he didn’t unwind his arm from Nico’s shoulders while doing so, meaning the son of Hades grumbled and swatted his hand away from his face. “It’s your decision.” He knew that this wasn’t just part of Bellerophon’s distraction technique, he knew it was more to do with the fact that Bellerophon wanted to fit in with the campers, to become friends with the Heroes of the New Age.

Bellerophon flicked his hood back and placed the mask on the table, giving the table a blinding smile. Several of them flinched, the majority of those in the room being campers who had known Percy for years. He knew the resemblance between himself and Bellerophon was strong, that it was even stronger when Scorpio and Labyrinthus were there to complete the image and it was four sons of Poseidon side by side. Nathan didn’t look a thing like them.

“Which one of you is supposed to be Poseidon’s son?” Bellerophon asked, plastering an easy grin on his face.

Nathan reluctantly waved.

“Little brother.” Bellerophon grinned wickedly. “You must take after your mother, you barely look a thing like Father.”

Percy had to refrain from snorting.

“Little brother?” Nathan spluttered indignantly. “Who are you?”

“ _ Pegasus _ .” Annabeth’s eyes lit up. “That was no ordinary Pegasus who accompanied you to camp.”

“Bellerophon.” Chiron couldn’t keep the shock from his voice. “You walk the earth again.”

“It seems a lot of us are doing that now.” Bellerophon nodded. “Me, the rest of my team… Kronos. I half expect the earth itself to start walking soon.”

“It does seem that the Earth Mother is at risk of waking once more.” Chiron nodded.

“Indeed it does.” Bellerophon nodded, smiled directed at Chiron for a moment before he turned to Nathan and stared at him until he shifted uncomfortably.

“We want to help prepare camp.” Percy intervened. “It’s what I wanted to discuss at the previous meeting before it was unfortunately cut short.” He, like many others, joined Bellerophon in glaring at Nathan.

“Any help with training would be much obliged.” Chiron nodded, relief palpable. “We relaxed once both Prophecies passed and Rachel, our Oracle, is yet to issue another.”

“Lady Artemis has bid us to stay in camp and assist,” Thalia spoke up. “She doesn’t want us traversing the country and getting caught unawares if a war breaks out. Kronos appearing suggests that there will be one.”

“How will we fight him?” Kayla asked. She looked around at the confused expressions her question garnered. “Come on, you can’t honestly think we have a hope in Hades?”

“Just because we’re missing Percy, it doesn’t mean that we can’t fight.” Clarisse kept her voice steady and level, not betraying the scepticism Percy had seen flickering in her eyes.

“Yes, it does.” Lou Ellen argued. “It means exactly that.”

“Rachel hasn’t issued a new Great Prophecy, but she did announce that Percy Jackson is the only one who can kill Kronos.” Kayla nodded, agreeing with Lou. She gestured to the room. “Look around, Percy isn’t here.”

“Instead we’ve just got a shitty replacement.” Travis wrinkled his nose at Nathan.

“Who, him?” Nathan pointed at Bellerophon. “Wait, no, him?” He pointed to Percy instead.

“No, dumbass, you.” Connor rolled his eyes.

“I am not-!” Nathan spluttered, outraged.

“Sure you are.” Clarisse laughed. “You just can’t admit it.”

“We’re facing a disaster and it’s largely your fault we’re missing the one guy who can handle it.” Travis nodded.

“Apollo himself has disputed that claim.” Percy finally intervened, unable to resist allowing them to rib Nathan for several minutes. “After this morning.”

“We all saw what happened, the arrows your team shot went straight through him!” Lou Ellen argued.

“Yes, they did.” Annabeth interrupted. “But his,” she pointed at Percy, “sword made contact as he left, didn’t it? We all saw the bloodied edge.”

“The daughter of Athena is correct.” Percy nodded, the words feeling strange leaving his lips. “My sword did connect as Kronos departed.”

“What if what Rachel said doesn’t necessarily mean Percy himself, but a Son of Poseidon?” Lee spoke up, gently guiding them towards the conclusion Percy wanted them to make. 

“ _ ‘Son and Sword of the Sea,  _

_ Is the one who shall defeat thee.  _

_ Second victory he shall declare;  _

_ Against the Titan, Gaia’s heir.’  _ ” Kayla recited from memory. “We just thought that the second victory meant it had to be Percy since he’s the only son of the sea who has fought Kronos before.”

“Have you?” Annabeth stared at Percy.

“Have I what?” Percy asked, just to be awkward.

“Fought Kronos before.” She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Yes.” He confirmed before realising what a perfect opportunity he had. He withdrew his lighter and Swiss Army Knife from his pocket with his free hand, transforming them one by one and laying them on the table. “I have an issue though.”

“Neither of them are Celestial Bronze.” Annabeth made the astute observation.

“No.” Percy shook his head. “Stygian Iron and Imperial Gold. They’re both modelled from a sword I used to have, the sword given to me by my father that I used when I fought against Kronos. Today, I managed to catch him off guard. Tomorrow? The next day? It won’t work again. I need a sword that has seen battle with him before if I want to inflict any serious damage. You’ve all heard the prophecy. Sword of the sea?”

All eyes went to the glass case on the wall.

“I need Percy Jackson’s sword.” He declared. “I need Riptide.”

  
  



	27. Percy's Custody Battle vs Himself for Riptide.

There was an immediate argument that broke out.

“Not a chance.” Annabeth shook her head resolutely. “You’re not touching it.”

“I don’t think that’s your choice to make.” Clarisse responded coolly, glaring at Annabeth. Percy himself felt slightly terrified; he knew that someone would play for his side, but he didn’t expect it to be Clarisse. He didn’t know whether she was taking his side because she wanted to, or whether she was taking his side because Annabeth was on the other one. What he did know, however, was that it would be best not to ask.

“Annabeth, you have to agree that this isn’t something that you can just say no to and expect the rest of us to follow.” Jason spoke to placate her before she could fire back at Clarisse. Percy knew that he’d have to apologise later, for putting Jason in the position where he knew that the owner of the sword and the one requesting to use it were one and the same and the only other Counsellors who knew that were Leo and Nico. The latter of whom he still had his arm around, the former suppressing laughter in the corner. Technically Thalia too, for she counted as Artemis’ Counsellor, but she was sat relishing in the hilarity of the situation with Leo. “If Blue needs Riptide, we can’t just point-blank refuse.”

“ _ You _ can’t just point-blank refuse,” Clarisse added. “It’s not your decision and your decision alone to make.”

“Percy was-”

“Exactly, Percy  _ was  _ your boyfriend.” Clarisse cut her off. “Until you dumped him for  _ that. _ ” She shuddered and pointed at Nathan. “So you don’t get to say ‘no’ and not give anyone else a chance to give an opinion. Sure, if it had been when Hera kidnapped him, we’d listen to you, but it isn’t. Percy left because of us. All of us.” Then she paused and reconsidered. “With the exception of those two,” she pointed at Leo and Thalia, “Nico and Grover. So really, they’re who we should be asking about this.”

“I did not dump Percy for him!” Annabeth protested, shaking her head. Percy shifted uncomfortably, really not wanting to hear this conversation if it continued down the path it seemed to be taking.

“Really?” Travis snorted.

“We could have sworn that you kissed in front of the campfire on  _ multiple  _ occasions, one of which was right in front of Percy.” Connor nodded.

“Say, isn’t that how Percy found out that you were dumping him?” Travis asked, tone innocent and expression wicked.

“That isn’t what’s important right now!” Annabeth groaned. Her posture was clearly defensive and she opened and closed her mouth as if she was about to say something else before deciding against it, hurt flickering in her eyes. Part of Percy wanted to ask to speak to her after this meeting and talk about what happened before he left, but a larger part of Percy knew he wasn’t ready to face that conversation yet.

“I know that it is a lot to ask.” Percy intervened, wanting to move back to a topic that wasn’t their breakup. “But Riptide isn’t a ceremonial piece to sit enclosed in glass for all of eternity. It is a weapon, a weapon that has taken down Titans and Giants. Me wielding it would not be an affront to Percy Jackson, he would want it to be used if he was present to advocate for it. Instead, I ask permission from his closest friends, since he is not currently here to ask. Although, if he was, I wouldn’t be the one going up against Kronos.”

“He’s not here because he’s  _ dead _ .” Annabeth glared at him. “So please forgive me for not wanting to place the one piece of him we have left in the hands of a stranger.”

“Dead?” Bellerophon snorted. “Pretty sure my baby brother wasn’t a corpse last time I saw him. What do you mean he’s dead?”

“What?” Clarisse sounded  _ dangerous  _ as she stared at Bellerophon, stunned. “Tell me you’re not kidding us, Horse Boy, or I’ll kick your ass that hard, you’ll never be able to sit on a horse again.”

“Are you s-”

“Do not ask her that question if you want to live,” Luke cut him off with a well-placed elbow to the ribs, shaking his head.

“Duly noted,” Bellerophon wheezed, nodding.

“What do you mean, you’ve seen Percy?” Annabeth asked, face pale. 

“He’s merely missing, not dead,” Bellerophon informed them as he rubbed at his ribs and tried to glare at Luke.

“You thought he  _ died _ ?” Percy asked, unable to stop himself. “Why?”

“Riptide… It would always return to his hand.” Annabeth was pale. “There was so much blood, we thought… He wouldn’t be parted from Riptide by any other force but death.”

“And Achilles’ dip in the Styx made him invulnerable,” Patroclus stated sarcastically. “Not everything is guaranteed, daughter of Athena. There can be exceptions. Achilles’ was his heel. Percy  _ choosing  _ to leave his sword behind would be another.”

“You think he would want to carry a gift from his father when his father had seemingly abandoned him in favour of another?” Apollo asked. “Riptide was a distinguishing feature. He wanted to disappear, you think he could have with one of the most recognised weapons in modern times?”

“That sword should be mine.” Nathan decided to insert himself into the conversation. “I am Poseidon’s son, Jackson is gone. I should be the one to get that sword, not one of these two intruders.”

“Did we ask for your opinion?” Luke asked with a sigh. “I don’t think we did.”

“I don’t think we did either.” Travis nodded.

“Nope, I didn’t ask.” Connor agreed.

“Did anyone else hear that noise?” Chris asked.

Percy held back laughter as the four sons of Hermes exchanged smiles, looking inordinately pleased with themselves. Travis, Connor and Chris were regarding Luke with matching looks of glee as if they had just found a missing piece of a puzzle. Which, Percy supposed, they had. He knew Luke’s love for his siblings was strong and abandoning them for Kronos was one of his biggest regrets. The fact that he had been responsible for Chris following him and falling into madness had been something he’d spoken to Percy at length about, feeling guilty and fully responsible. Percy hoped that seeing Chris with Travis and Connor, along with the rest of the Cabin, would convince Luke that they wouldn’t hate him, that they obviously had the capacity for forgiveness.

“Next time we play Capture the Flag, we call dibs on you for the Hermes Cabin.” Travis informed Luke.

“Can we ask who your godly parent is?” Connor tilted his head slightly. “Or is that too much of an invasion of privacy?”

“Boys, perhaps we could discuss this later?” Chiron asked in a tight voice.

“He has a point. We should talk about this after we talk about Percy.” Luke winced. “Though, I am proud to call the three of you my brothers.”

The three of them perked up, looking fascinated. Percy noted out of the corner of his eye that Thalia also looked intrigued and made a mental note to warn Luke later.

“Why can’t I have his sword?” Nathan whined, bringing them swiftly back to topic.

“You took his home, his father’s attention, his girlfriend, his friends, his happiness and now you want his sword too?” Nico spoke up for the first time. “Fuck off.”

“Nico?” Jason sounded stunned.

Nico sighed and pushed his hood back, tossing the mask on the table to reveal tired, red eyes and a pale face. “I’ve changed allegiances.”

“Temporarily,” Percy added swiftly. “I’m not taking him with me when I go.”

“Yes, you are,” Nico argued.

“Nico?” Jason repeated weakly.

“I need a new distraction.” Nico shrugged, sitting up straight and shrugging Percy’s arm from his shoulders. “It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“It wasn’t me who asked, so I won’t be taking him with me,” Percy assured the room.

“I’d like to see you try and leave me here.” Nico huffed.

“We’ve got three people here then, to give an opinion on Riptide.” Jason jumped in, sensing that there may be an argument if he didn’t.

“Are we still arguing about that?” Nico asked.

“You can’t just give Riptide to a stranger.” Annabeth protested. “No matter how much Nico cuddles up to him and demands his attention.”

“You think I’d just hand it over if I didn’t trust him?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “I’ve spent the week they’ve been here with them since the rest of you have apparently been too scared to get to know them, I trust them.”

“Nico, it’s  _ Riptide. _ ” Annabeth tried desperately.

“You think Percy wouldn’t hand over his sword if he was here and someone else needed to borrow it for a fight?” Nico asked.

“He’ll only be borrowing it, it’s not like he’s going to use it and take it when his team leaves or destroy it.” Thalia nodded. “And it seems that if he did take it, Nico could bring it back.”

“I’m more likely to take Nico with me than I would take Riptide.” Percy agreed for the sake of the argument. “Which is, I wouldn’t.”

“Can we please just give him the sword and move on?” Leo asked.

“Who are we giving a sword to?” A familiar voice came from the doorway. “And why are there a bunch of people in masks? New fashion trend?”

Jason was on his feet in an instant, a smile spread wide across his previously stern face. “Reyna!”

With the arrival of the Romans, Percy had reluctantly offered up the usage of the larger War Room in the Chaos Cabin in order to fit everyone comfortably as the Rec Room was beginning to burst at the seams  _ before  _ they’d had to jam all of Percy’s team in there. After, of course, having to explain to Reyna, Hazel, and Frank who they were and what they were doing in camp. Which was then followed by an explanation of the morning’s events and why Caeruleum needed Percy Jackson’s sword.

“Here.” Thalia walked in slightly later than everyone else. She held out Riptide and his hand closed around the hilt of his sword for the first time since he handed it over to Hades, thinking that he would never possess it again. The rush of power that went through the room did not go unnoticed as the magics Hades had worked to separate them dissolved. Percy knew that if he were to throw Riptide now, he would find the sword back in his pocket in the form of a pen. He chose not to, keeping it in his hand and nodding to Thalia in thanks.

“I still think that  _ I  _ should get the sword.” Nathan sniffed.

“Who let him in?” Bianca asked, the rest of the team more willing to speak up in the meeting now it was on their turf. “I thought we had wards up to keep idiots out?”

“Unfortunately it’s a Counsellors meeting, so we have to include him or he gets upset.” Travis sighed, sounding extremely put out.

“Although, when he gets upset, it’s only like being soaked with a water gun.” Connor shrugged. “Which is usually quite nice in summer, so, sometimes, it’s worth it.”

“The pair of you are so  _ annoying _ .” Nathan whined. “Can’t you go five minutes without saying something mean about me?”

“Can  _ you _ go more than five minutes without doing something that requires us to say something mean about you?” Connor countered.

“You make yourself an easy target, Nath.” Travis added gleefully.

“No I don't.” Nathan pouted.

“Nathan, just shut up for five minutes so they won’t have a reason to pick on you,” Clarisse sighed. “Let the nice people in masks carry on telling us what happened on Olympus after their leader stole them some extra people. That’s where we got up to before, right?”

“That’s right,” Luke agreed before Nathan could start complaining again. “Though nothing more really happened after that, Bellerophon had a reunion with Poseidon and Pegasus and the others complained that their reunions weren’t going to be nearly as Disney-like.”

“So then what, you all came back and sat around in your Cabin until the meeting?” Kayla asked, eyes flicking from one member of Percy’s team to the next. “How come you grabbed Nico and that one,” she pointed at Apollo, “and dragged them off as you shouted the time for the meeting.”

“Kay, drop it.” Nico shook his head.

“Drop what?” Kayla challenged. “I’m just asking what took you three hours to discuss.”

“I was telling Blue about Will, okay?” Nico admitted. All of the fight in Kayla seemed to drain out of her. “I’d avoided telling him until I couldn’t anymore.”

“Is that why you look like you’ve been crying, di Angelo?” Nathan asked,  apparently having absolutely no concept of how to handle a sensitive subject. “It’s nearly been four years, don’t you think-”

Suddenly there was a burst of light and Nathan was thankfully cut off.

“Commander Caeruleum, Bellerophon and… Nathan?” The sheer reluctance of the tone and bored expression told Percy exactly who it was, despite the fact he was neither green or had twin tails but instead was tan and stood on legs. 

Triton. 

“Since the four of us are apparently related, the man we call Father sent me to request your presence.” He eyed Percy and fascination flickered across his face at the sight of Riptide in his hand. “Immediately.”   


  
  



	28. Nathan Shore Loves Puns.

Percy never thought that he would be quite so  _ glad  _ for Triton to start talking. But, after a more than half an hour tirade from Nathan about how unfair it was that Percy, well, Caeruleum – which he kept pronouncing wrong, got to have Riptide, he was relieved when Triton finally interrupted. Apparently the summons had not been as urgent as Triton had made them out to be and it seemed that he was regretting making it seem so.

“Nathan, please!” Triton pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just, for the love of the rest of the gods, shut up!”

“But he gets to have Riptide and that’s not fair.” Nathan pouted. “I should get to have Riptide, dad has always promised to have the one of the cyclops make me a sword so I don’t see why I can’t just have that one!”

“Believe it or not, I know it’s not fair.” Triton sighed, sheer boredom on his face. “Because you’ve been trying to tell us for the past half an hour.”

“Thirty-six minutes, actually,” Bellerophon informed them.

“You timed him?” Triton laughed.

Bellerophon held up his arm, showing off his watch. “Watching the seconds tick by was more interesting than having to listen to him, so yes, I timed him.”

“So, why did you come and collect us?” Percy asked, wondering if Triton would answer his question and give them a momentary respite from Nathan talking. “Dad only saw me and Bells a few hours ago.”

“He called a family meeting.” Triton shrugged. “Said that it was important and sent me to collect you three. Are you the one he claimed the other night and then went to speak with the next?”

“Why do you think it was him and not me?” Bellerophon asked.

Triton levelled him with a dry look. “He would have warned me that you were walking the Earth again.”

“Yeah, it was me that he claimed.” Percy nodded, hoping that he could intervene before the two started bickering. “And it was me he was speaking to when you came to fetch him.”

“He said that you remind him of Percy.” Triton fixed him with a glare, eyes narrowing as his gaze flicked to Percy’s hand where Riptide was loosely in his grip by his side. He honestly hadn’t wanted to let go, the familiar weight of his first sword was one he had missed. Leaving Riptide behind had been one of his biggest regrets but he knew what Apollo had said before was true. Riptide was one of the most recognised weapons of the modern age – at least amongst the Greeks for certain. Pretty distinctive amongst the Romans too, even if he’d only been at Camp Jupiter for a short time. He’d wanted to masquerade as a completely different person. It wouldn’t have been believed if he had Riptide.

“I’ve had that a lot since our arrival.” Percy nodded, not wanting to give too much away as Bellerophon held in laughter beside him. “The circumstances of our claiming are apparently identical.”

“You totally staged that.” Nathan huffed.

Percy just sighed. “Do you know how dumb you sound whenever you say stuff like that?” He shook his head. “Poseidon wasn’t aware that I walked the Earth again, how could I have staged his claiming which was a reaction to my presence in the creek?”

“I can see why you’re compared to Perseus,” Triton smirked. There was a hint of intrigue and almost hope in his gaze and Percy couldn’t help but remember what had happened during his last year on Earth, when his relations with his dad and the godly side of his family had grown stronger. He’d been happy to call Amphitrite his step-mom - which had been strange at first, but she’d eventually accepted that he wasn’t going to die and leave them alone anytime soon and had decided that it was in her best interests to act contrary to her sister-in-law’s usual approach to Zeus’ children and accept her husband’s demigod son. And, despite Triton’s desire to be known as Poseidon’s favourite son, he’d grown on Percy. Like a fungus. A really irritating but lovable fungus. Everything had changed when Nathan came along, but before then, before Percy’s life was once again thrown into disarray, he thought that things were going his way for once.

There may have been a family group chat.

Percy had silently cursed Hephaestus a lot for figuring out a phone design that wouldn’t act as a monster beacon, especially whenever Triton had sent a message that was downright inappropriate.

Sally and Amphitrite had gotten on scarily well, exchanging recipes and book recommendations of all things. Paul had gotten over the bemusement of his first meeting with Poseidon at Percy’s birthday party all those years ago and had bonded with Poseidon over their shared desire to get Percy through high school alive – it had been their combined forces against the administrative staff at Goode that had got Percy back into the school with little to no questions as to why he’d vanished out of the blue. 

Poseidon’s tearful explanation about Percy’s Aunt kidnapping him had apparently worked wonders on the Principal, especially when Poseidon had thrown in the detail that it was the second time a member of their family had kidnapped Percy - referencing when Ares had been blamed for ‘brave Percy Jackson’ being dragged all over the States when they’d been chasing the Master Bolt. 

Percy, Triton, and Tyson had – reluctantly on Triton’s behalf – agreed that it was easier to be friends, not enemies. Well, it was more Percy and Tyson had agreed that with Triton, Percy and Tyson hadn’t needed to settle that argument as they were already brothers in each others eyes. Well,  _ eye _ in Tyson’s case.

The year had been filled with visitation weekends when Percy wasn’t headed to camp, a few weeks here and there of the school holidays spent under the sea and one  _ terrifying  _ student-teacher night where all four parents had shown up and trailed Percy around from teacher to teacher, all of Paul’s loyalties to his fellow staff members out of the window. It really hadn’t helped the fact that it was the first meeting of Poseidon for the majority of Percy’s school friends, whom Percy had told that he was a fisherman. After that night, from then on referred to as  _ The School Incident,  _ his friends and teachers had been firmly convinced that Poseidon was some sort of mob boss, right along with Hades who had accompanied a scowling Nico; the latter of which had grumbled about his own father wanting to accompany him when  _ ‘Sally could have just seen all my teachers at the same time as she saw Percy’s and Leo’s because they’re all the fucking same anyway’  _ in Nico’s own words. There was also Thanksgiving and Christmas, upon which Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton, Tyson, Hades, Persephone, and Thanatos had all descended on his mom and Paul’s apartment and utter mayhem had ensued. Leo had escaped to Camp on both occasions to spend them in relative peace with Jason and Piper but there wasn’t a moment that Percy had been jealous.

It had been the best Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas day of his life.

“Ah, my sons.” Poseidon greeted, none of them having noticed the door opening.

“Dad!” Percy greeted, relieved. Coming back to Earth was making him reminisce constantly and he kept getting lost in thought of what was and what could have been. He couldn’t help but wistfully hope for a future in which the holidays could be repeated. 

“Blue.” Poseidon smiled softly. “Thank you for coming. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything too important?”

“Just a Counsellors meeting that had dragged on for hours.” Bellerophon huffed. “we were getting nowhere, it took far too long for them to be convinced that Blue should get to borrow Riptide to fight Kronos.”

“I should get to have Riptide,” Nathan muttered a token protest.

“I’m going to guess that’s why it took so long?” Poseidon asked, gesturing to Nathan who spluttered indignantly.

“That would be one of the reasons.” Percy nodded. “Apparently there’s a prophecy?”

“A prophecy that could apply to any of Poseidon’s children, ergo, I should get the sword.” Nathan huffed.

“That’s a fancy word, Natty, where did you learn that one?” Percy asked innocently.

“My name is Nathan, not Natty,” Nathan complained.

“Really?” Bellerophon raised a brow. He winked at Percy. “I thought Natty was short for Natalia.”

“I thought it was short for Natalie,” Percy responded conversationally, ignoring Nathan’s spluttering and increasing redness of the face. Teasing Nathan was the perfect distraction from his earlier thoughts.

“Boys.” Poseidon intervened, attempting to keep a straight face.

“Yes, dad?” Percy answered innocently.

“How about we move this inside?” Poseidon suggested, stepping back to welcome them into the throne room.

“Can we just get one thing straight here?” Nathan hissed. “My name is Nathan. Not Natty. Or Natalia. Or Natalie. Or whatever else your tiny minds come up with.”

“Chill, Natty.” Percy held his hands up and slipped past Poseidon, who was now quashing laughter.

“Caeruleum!” Nathan screeched and practically hurtled after him.

Percy spun and raised Riptide, Nathan’s eyes crossing as he looked at the tip between his eyes. “Are you planning to use that, or is it just for decoration?” He asked, gesturing to the dagger that Nathan had produced.

“You are the single most infuriating person I have ever had the misfortune to meet.” Nathan snarled.

“Someone ate their alphabet cereal for breakfast.” Percy teased. “Or a thesaurus.”

“Nathan!” Poseidon boomed.

“He started it!” Nathan whined.

“I’m not the one who pulled a knife!” Percy argued.

“No, you pulled a sword,” Triton spoke dryly. “Though, in all fairness, he did chase after you with a knife.”

“The knife is the reason I pulled the sword!” Percy pointed out.

“Boys!” Poseidon groaned. He pinched the bridge of his nose and Percy winced, feeling bad for stressing the man out. “Blue, put Riptide away. Nathan, put that damn knife away.”

“Er…” Percy realised that Thalia had only handed him Riptide and he didn’t have a clue where the cap of the pen that usually forced the sword to transfer down actually was.

He did the next best thing.

“Why did you throw a sword at me!” Nathan screeched, despite the fact he’d thrown Riptide in completely the opposite direction.  Unfortunately.

He eyed Nathan suspiciously until he was certain that the dagger had been sheathed before slipping his hand into his pocket to find that Riptide was resting there, restored to pen form.

“Are you boys done fighting?” A familiar female voice caused Percy to spin on his heel and face Amphitrite who he had not previously noticed to be present in the room.

“Step-mother.” Nathan sniffed.

“Queen Amphitrite.” Percy greeted, unable to keep the fondness from his tone though he did manage to avoid calling her ‘Amy’ like he used to on occasion.

“Nathaniel, Bellerophon, Blue.” Amphitrite greeted, glaring at Nathan and nodding at Bellerophon before turning a warm smile onto Percy. “Poseidon has been telling me about you.”

“He hasn’t shut up.” Athena laughed from Amphitrite’s side.

“You’re not a face I expected to find in my father’s court.” Percy couldn’t help but blurt out, shocked by Athena’s presence.

“Aunt Athena and our father have become a rather terrifying combination in the Olympian court.” Triton patted Percy’s shoulder in consolation. “It’s a friendship built on insults and a few millennia of disputes that have culminated into a realisation that if they combine forces, they’re more likely to win. Attendance of the minor gods and goddesses at court has gone up a record amount because everyone wants to bear witness to Poseidon and Athena issuing a verbal smackdown of Zeus whenever he says something stupid.”

“As per usual,” Poseidon muttered.

They could just make out the sound of a distant but distinct rumble.

“Oh shut up you grumpy git, you know it is the truth!” Poseidon yelled at the ceiling, shaking his fist. Blue lightning arced across the glass dome, as if a representation of Zeus himself.

“So, are you going to tell Bells, Nadine and I why we’ve been summoned?” Percy asked, ignoring Nathan’s outraged cry that instantly followed. “You interrupted a Counsellor meeting that was going swimmingly.”

“I’m shore it was,” Poseidon responded, attempting to keep a straight face. “I hope you were avoiding pier-pressure when it came to Riptide being returned to your possession?”

“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Athena announced.

“Dam right.” Percy nodded.

“I don’t get it.” Nathan whined.

“Feeling a little crabby today, Narcissa?” Percy asked innocently. And promptly had to duck out of the way when Nathan took a swing for his head.

“I’m done.” Nathan started backing out of the throne room. “You, me, the arena tomorrow morning. I want a duel.”

He stormed from the room, leaving the watching the door swinging on its hinges.

Percy couldn’t resist the next line out of his mouth. “I’m going to guess that  _ he’s  _ sick of my ship.” 

  
  



	29. Nathan Can't Handle a Sword.

“I just needed you to not argue for five minutes.” Poseidon groaned.

“He’s just so easy to wind up.” Percy winced. He figured they were in safe company now, so he swiftly pushed down the hood of his cloak and pulled off the mask so he could give his step-mom a sheepish grin. “Hi, Amy.”

“Five years, young man!” Amphitrite scolded but invited him in for a hug regardless. “We were so worried, your father went grey and grey is not a good look for him.”

“You told me I looked dashing!” Poseidon frowned.

“I lied,” Amphitrite responded sunnily. “It made you look like Zeus, which is not a good look.”

There was a faint rumble yet again.

Amphitrite’s response was more drastic than her husband’s. “Fuck off,” she shouted, raising a finger to the sky before starting to mutter angrily. “I want to see him come down here and rumble at me; fucking try me, bitch.” The last part was aimed at the sky again.

“Amy, we said we’d stop swearing at the ceiling.” Poseidon sighed, shaking his head. Percy couldn’t help but laugh, remembering it had been a common occurrence during his visits. It seemed that nothing much had changed.

“That was before his cow of a wife told me that my skin looked scaly at the last Ball she insisted on throwing.” Amphitrite huffed. Percy debated whether he could persuade Hephaestus to option his new idea for ‘The Real Housewives of Olympus’ for H-flix. He knew he was one of many who would pay good money to be able to bear witness to the scene of Amphitrite insulting Hera. “She could hardly talk, she was wearing so many feathers that I wanted to ask if she had to resort to dressing as a swan to get her husband to pay attention to her, since he seems rather interested in that sort of thing.”

“And you wonder why Hera asks if you’re planning to be in Greece or Australia or somewhere else on the other side of the globe before arranging a date to throw a Ball where you are certainly away.” Poseidon snorted.

“Personally, I think Amphitrite should make  _ more _ appearances in court.” Athena was barely concealing her smile.

“You would.” Poseidon huffed, trying to fake an irritated expression but failing miserably. “You’re not the one Zeus shouts at.”

“Personally I agree with Athena,” Bellerophon piped up, grinning.

“Of course you would.” Amphitrite rolled her eyes. “Though it is nice to see you again. I suppose.”

“Percy got a hug and all I get is an ‘I suppose it’s nice that you’re alive’?” Bellerophon pouted. “That’s totally unfair.”

“I’m sorry, but can we just circle back to  _ that _ ?” Triton asked and pointed directly at Percy’s face and Percy realised that his half-brother had been staring at him with an expression of disbelief since he’d revealed his face. He’d been so caught up in the live episode of The Real Housewives of Olympus that he’d forgotten to bid his half-brother a proper hello.

“Oh, hi Tri.” Percy gave him a wave. “Surprise!” He attempted half-hearted jazz hands as Triton strode towards him, anger on his face.

“-head.” Triton’s full insult was muffled as he aggressively hugged Percy, the word mostly spoken into his shoulder. “Why did everyone else get to find out before me?”

“Sorry Tri, I thought dad would have told you like he apparently did with Amy.” Percy winced as Triton squeezed him almost hard enough to crack bones before releasing him.

“He couldn’t not tell me, he went from being grey and grim to his usual self after one trip to the beach.” Amphitrite rolled her eyes. “It was obvious that it had something to do with you. Nothing else would have caused such a big change.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Triton asked.

“You need to work on your observation skills.” Athena winked at him. “Then you might have realised that there was something going on.”

“Wait!” Triton sounded triumphantly, pointing a finger at Poseidon. “That’s why you made a comment about Riptide being  _ returned  _ to his possession.”

“Oh no,” Poseidon groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I said that in front of Nathan, didn’t I?”

An ounce of dread started to grow inside of Percy and he bit his lip, wondering whether or not Nathan had noticed it in the same way Triton had. It had been obvious he hadn’t noticed it in the moment, Nathan was never the type to keep quiet when he was confused about something. If he had noticed, he would have asked what Poseidon meant instead of whining and challenging Percy to a duel. He sincerely hoped that he and Bellerophon wouldn’t return to shore to find Nathan stood waiting for them.

“You’re giving the boy too much credit if you think he noticed,” Athena assured them, shaking her head. “All of his focus was directed at Percy and Riptide, he had little care for what Poseidon was saying.”

“Thanks Athena, it’s always nice to hear that nobody cares about what I’m saying,” Poseidon stated dryly.

“One of us has to remind you,” Athena laughed. “And Amphitrite never would.”

“That’s because she cares about what I say.” Poseidon narrowed his eyes and folded his arms.

“Of course I do, dear.” Amphitrite nodded and patted his shoulder.

Poseidon looked at her for a moment, confusion flickering in his eyes. “Are you being sarcastic?”

“I would  _ never _ .” Amphitrite didn’t even flinch, maintaining her serious expression despite the laughter in her eyes and the laughter that Athena was failing to suppress.

“I’m going to start banning you from holding your Book Club down here,” Poseidon grumbled. “It’s bad enough when I’m getting harassed by one of you, let alone the two of you.”

“Darling, we’re not even hosting the Book Club today,” Amphitrite informed him, patting his arm. “If we were, Sally would be here.”

“Your mother bullies me too,” Poseidon informed Percy. “The three of them are terrifying.”

“Terrifying women are your type,” Triton snorted before giving Percy a grin. “It’s good to have you back. It’s not the same laughing at mom, Aunt Sally and Aunt Athena ganging up on dad when it’s just me and Tyson.”

“Aunt Sally?” Percy raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that when he left, Sally and Triton’s relationship was nowhere near the point where Triton would refer to her as such. “And what’s with you calling Athena ‘Aunt’ as well?” He looked at the goddess and frowned. “Aren’t you like our cousin?”

“Let’s just  _ not  _ go down that alley of conversation.” Triton shuddered. “She’s Aunt Athena and I don’t want to think about anything else. It’s best not to ask, for your own sanity.”

“Have you been to see Sally yet?” Amphitrite dived in with a subject change.

“Yes!” Percy replied, glad to answer and move on. “The day I spoke to dad on the beach, I went to see her that morning with Nico.”

“Oh thank the rest of the gods,” Amphitrite sighed, relief on her face. “I don’t think I would have been able to face her next week if I knew and she didn’t.”

“I’ve been meaning to go home and see her again, I didn’t spend nearly enough time with them,” Percy admitted. “A few hours doesn’t make up for a few years.”

“I presume you met Estelle?” Poseidon asked, a delighted smile on his face. 

“Your father dotes on her nearly as much as he dotes on Nico,” Amphitrite informed him with a conspiratorial smile on her face. “And Leo, when he’s around.”

“After you disappeared and dad came to his senses about Nathan, I thought I’d be able to reclaim my title as his favourite son,” Triton grumbled, though he seemed to be joking. “But it seems that a  _ son of Hades  _ managed to steal it from me. And now you’re back. And  _ he’s _ back.” He pointed at Bellerophon too.

“Sorry Tri,” Percy laughed.

“Sorry Tri,” Bellerophon mimicked and stuck his tongue out at Triton.

“Nathan was never my favourite son.” Poseidon scowled. “And to this day I still don’t know what came over me. That’s why I wanted you to come down here actually, to see if we could get him to admit to being a fraud. Or to at least admit that he’s up to something.”

“Don’t worry,” Percy started to grin, “he promised me a fight tomorrow morning. I’m sure that I’ll manage to get something out of him.”

Percy missed breakfast.

He fully blamed the alarm that he had forgotten to set, especially when he woke up to Nico hovering only inches away from him.

“I thought you’d died in your sleep,” Nico informed him.

Percy made an unintelligible noise and rolled away from the son of Hades. It was too early to deal with other people. “Times’ it?” He groaned. 

“Almost ten.” Nico couldn’t sound less bothered. “Nathan has been storming around the arena for almost an hour, demanding that you face him. What happened under the sea?”

It registered a few seconds later and Percy shot out of bed, frantically trying to find articles of clothing to wear.

“I promised my dad I’d duel Natty after I pissed him off that much that he returned to the surface before my dad could interrogate him about his parentage,” Percy explained as he tried to yank his jeans on. “T-Shirt, anywhere, any one of them?”

Nico rolled his eyes and opened the door of his closet. “You literally have an entire wardrobe here and yet you’re sifting through the dirty laundry on your floor.”

“Oh, neat, throw me one?” Percy asked.

Nico wordlessly threw him the white t-shirt with geometric T-Rexes printed all over it, merely raising an eyebrow.

“Oi, it’s my favourite t-shirt.” Percy glared at him before happily pulling it over his head.

“Sometimes I have to be reminded that you helped save the world  _ twice _ .” Nico sighed. “Now would be a good time to remind me.”

“Kids these days, the disrespect you have for your elders.” Percy faked mock outrage.

“I was born before your dad even  _ considered  _ breaking his Oath.” Nico reminded him. “You kids these days, the disrespect  _ you  _ have for  _ your  _ elders.”

“You think you’re hilarious, don’t you?” Percy rolled his eyes, trying to pull his shoes on as swiftly as possible.

“I know I’m hilarious.” Nico corrected. “And you have about five minutes before Nathan decides that you forfeit the duel and then he’ll be insufferable.”

“Correction, he’ll be even more insufferable.” Percy pointed out, swirling his cloak around his shoulders and rushing out of his room.

Nico ambled after him, not bothered by the fact Percy’s reputation was at stake.

“I heard you were asking for me?” Percy walked into the area as if he lacked a care in the world, interrupting Nathan’s tirade about him. “How are we today, Nebraska?”

“How does that even sound remotely like Nathan?” Nathan screeched.

“Touchy, touchy.” Percy teased. “So, I presume that you still want to fight me? Or, Nefertiti, are you going to withdraw your challenge?”

“Never,” Nathan snarled.

Percy shrugged and pulled Riptide from his pocket, uncapping the pen and watching as it smoothly transitioned into a sword in tandem to Nathan’s face rapidly draining in colour.

“So, are we going to fight?”

Nathan nodded, a small jerky nod that his face seemed to regret though he still pulled his own sword from its sheath. It was a vicious-looking thing that honestly reminded Percy slightly of Backbiter. Its double edges were jagged, hooked to inflict as much pain as possible when cutting through the flesh of its foes and it was lighter than Celestial Bronze but darker than Imperial Gold. Percy would bet his left foot that it was an alloy of the two, though he was truly no expert. He’d ask Leo and Beckendorf later to identify it for him, even if it meant sneaking into Nathan’s Cabin to steal it. No, not Nathan’s Cabin. Percy’s Cabin that was hosting an unwelcome tenant.

Not wanting to risk serious injury from Nathan simply not knowing how to handle his sword, Percy pulled his amulet from beneath his t-shirt and allowed his armour to form before Nathan could protest.

“No armour?” Percy asked sweetly.

Nathan shook his head.

“Gods, Nikki, did you prepare for this or not?” Percy couldn’t help but tease. “This was  _ your _ idea.”

“Can you not give me some?” Nathan pleaded.

“Sorry Natty, you bring your own equipment to this party,” Percy smirked, remembering when he had heard similar words come from Luke to Annabeth when he’d had to fight him on the _ Princess Andromeda. _ He’d forgiven Luke for that, but he had a feeling that Nathan would always hold a grudge for this.

He noticed the crowd around the arena for the first time, all of his team watching on along with the majority of the campers. Percy worried for a second that the crowd was too large, that Nathan would flee rather than face exposure.

“Are you sure about this?” Percy asked.

Nathan nodded.

Percy winced. All was fair in love and war. 

And this was war.

Annabeth watched from the crowd as Blue and Nathan circled one another, unable to shake the feeling of shock. It felt as if someone had walked over her grave, hearing Blue say those words to Nathan.

There were only two people that she knew that still lived that would remember such a line, Tyson and Grover. She was aware that the team that had descended upon them were people that Blue, Caeruleum, whatever he wished to be known by, were all people that the aforementioned leader had individually plucked from the Underworld himself, but she was also aware of the fact that if Luke and Percy were amongst the ranks, neither of them would be as close as the rest of the group. And the group was ridiculously close-knit. She also couldn’t pinpoint which members of the group they could be; Blue did remind her of Percy on a number of levels, and Heros was a painful reminder of Luke, but it seemed that Blue and Heros were inseparable. And she knew that they would never be that close, so all hopes died each time they interacted. Perhaps Blue repeating Luke’s old line was just a coincidence, a line borrowed from some mortal movie without knowing the significance to Annabeth.

She shook her head and dismissed it, residual guilt about being instrumental in Percy’s departure from camp had her seeing him in everybody, especially around the anniversary of his disappearance. No, it was not possible for Blue to be Percy.

Percy easily sidestepped Nathan’s first swing, trying to refrain from laughing at the angry noise Nathan made when his terrible aim made it so easy to just step out of the way. He half suspected that Nathan had simply been handed the blade and had never bothered to practice with it outside of the basic lessons Chiron insisted on whenever anyone handled a new weapon. That, or the blade was incorrectly weighted for Nathan, most likely too heavy judging by the fact that his swings were clumsy and seemed to fall short of their mark.

He wanted to get his hands on that sword more than he wanted to expose Nathan’s identity to camp. Best to allow Nathan to continue operating under the false impression that his guise as Poseidon’s son was still operational, despite his sheer lack of control over water and the fact that five years of training had shown no improvement. He just didn’t know how he could get the blade away from him without Nathan noticing. It seemed that they would have to resort to an excursion into the Poseidon Cabin, though he needed to come up with a way to disguise their intentions. They couldn’t just steal Nathan’s sword and leave it at that. No, they needed a true distraction.

“Blue!” Luke’s scream brought him back into the arena, just in time to register the fact that Nathan’s blade was actually on target this time.

Percy managed to duck, blade whistling over his head. “Are you actually trying to kill me?” If he hadn’t registered it in time, the blade would have connected with his neck and he would be, for lack of a better term, screwed.

Nathan was white, staring at the weapon in his hand as if he did not recognise it.

“Nathan?” Percy asked warily, using Riptide to easily knock the sword from Nathan’s hand. “You good there?”

“I don’t like you but I don’t want to kill you.” Nathan’s voice wavered.

“I find that hard to believe, that’s the second time you’ve taken a swing for my head with a dangerous weapon in the past two days alone.” Percy reminded him.

“I just want to know-” Nathan suddenly launched himself at Percy, using the element of surprise to knock him to the ground. “-who the fuck you are.”

“Seriously?” Percy groaned.

“Everyone wants to know.” Nathan huffed. “And I think we’re all entitled to know who it is running around under that cloak, proclaiming they’re here to help us.”

“Actually, we told you that we’re here on vacation.” Percy pointed out. Before promptly shoving Nathan off him. “So, sword fight?”

“When I win, you have to reveal your identity,” Nathan announced.

“Sure thing, Nadine.” Percy rolled his eyes. 

He countered all of Nathan’s next moves with practiced ease, wanting to laugh at the fact that the moves were all ones he recalled teaching to the beginners in his last years at camp.

“Fighting dirty now?” Percy asked when a frustrated Nathan sent a pitiful ball of water at his face, easily tossing it back before it even came close. Nathan spluttered when it hit him, Percy just sighing. They’d be here all day if Nathan had his way.

Instead of continuing to play defence, he switched to the offence. It felt like he was fighting a child and he had an unfair advantage.

“Just surrender, Nat.” Percy urged. “Nobody will think bad of you.”

“I’m not surrendering to you!” Nathan spat back.

Percy swiftly disarmed him.

“Blue!” Leo shouted from the audience. “If you’re done, Chiron wants a word.”

Percy had turned to answer Leo when he felt Nathan tug on the back of his hood, yanking it down.

  
  



	30. Luke Castellan: Master of Sword Theft Planning.

Percy felt as though time was standing still, panic rising in his chest. He was very aware of the fact that the mask only aided in obscuring his face when paired with the shadows his cloak cast over his face; it was more for stylistic purposes than anything else. It worked when they were off-planet and dealing with strangers but he was standing in an arena of his peers. They’d recognise him without a doubt.

Instead, there were just confused mutters, a frown on Jason’s face and Leo looking as if he was concentrating intensely on Percy’s face.

“Who the fuck are you?” Nathan asked, confusion and disappointment on his face.

“That,  _ buddy _ , is none of your business,” Percy responded, scowling as he reached back and flipped the hood back up, noticing members of his team sigh in relief. He was trying to hide his own confusion, not knowing  _ why _ there hadn’t been an uproar in response to the reveal.

He walked away from Nathan, heading straight for Nico, Apollo, Leo and Jason, the former grabbing his hand and dragging him from the arena.

“You’re lucky that I was here,” Apollo informed him with a delighted laugh. “Otherwise you would have been  _ screwed _ .”

“What did you do?” Percy asked, curious.

“God, remember?” Apollo gestured to himself. “I have powers that you could only dream of, powers beyond- Ouch!”

“He manipulated the Mist,” Nico responded, having elbowed Apollo in the ribs to shut him up. Percy had a feeling that Nico was the only demigod that wasn’t one of Apollo’s kids that would be allowed to get away with such an act, the god having resigned himself to pouting and rubbing at his ribs.

“That was freaky.” Jason shuddered. “It fooled me and I knew what I was supposed to be seeing.”

“Tell me you at least made me pretty?” Percy asked, unable to resist.

“Your hair looked like honey,” Jason responded. “I didn’t like it.”

“I’ll leave being blonde to you, Superman.” Percy wrinkled his nose.

“Well, I liked it.” Apollo huffed. “Blondes have more fun. Plus, sweetheart, you’re pretty with or without a glamour.”

“I think I was just sick in my mouth,” Nico announced.

“Oi, Moonshine, you would have agreed with me a few years ago.” Apollo huffed.

“Don’t know why you’re just postponing the inevitable.” Leo piped up amidst Nico’s spluttering. “Someone is going to figure it out eventually.”

“I’d rather it be on my terms and not when Nathan decides to fight dirty and pull my hood down after losing,” Percy responded over the background sound of Nico and Apollo squabbling. “And for it to be preferably in the minutes before I’m leaving camp and don’t have to answer any questions as I step into the portal to Chaos, waving at everyone.”

“Fat chance that you’re leaving us behind.” Leo huffed. “You’re stuck with Nico, he’s not letting you go anywhere without him.”

“Absolutely not.” Percy and Nico answered in tandem before turning to glare at the other.

“You’re not coming with me when I leave,” Percy warned, not for the first time. “We’ve discussed this.”

“Well, I guess you’re not leaving then.” Nico folded his arms. “Because you’re not going without me. We’ve discussed this.”

“Hilarious.” Percy’s response was dry, he didn’t want to laugh at Nico throwing his words back at him.

“What does Chiron want to speak to him about anyway?” Jason asked as a swift distraction.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Leo shrugged. “He just caught me and said that he needed to speak to Blue about something once he was finished destroying the shreds of Nathan’s reputation. Which, to be honest, he sounded far too thrilled about.”

“I think everyone is thrilled about the prospect of Blue ruining Nathan’s shambolic reputation.” Nico agreed. “I know I am.”

“We know.”

Percy laughed, it had come from all of them in unison.

“Ah, Blue!” Chiron greeted them when they finally reached the Big House. “Jason, Leo, Nico, Apollo.”

“Dionysus told you.” Apollo huffed, shoulders slumping.

“He did not.” Chiron has a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “You have a certain aura that means I could never mistake you for anyone else.”

“I do?” Apollo asked.

“Oh yes.” Chiron nodded. “I know no other god who can be so annoying.”

“My heart is touched.” Apollo beamed.

“Leo said that you wanted to see me?” Percy asked.

“Oh, yes dear boy, shall we move this inside?” Chiron suggested, looking around. “You never know when you’re truly alone these days.”

Once they were settled inside, doors and windows firmly closed over, Chiron cleared his throat and looked pointedly at the masks and cloaks that three of them were wearing. Nico was wearing the cloak sans mask and sans hood, but both Percy and Apollo were wearing them and Percy swiftly understood. He pushed the hood down and rested the mask on his knee, Apollo doing the same.

Chiron’s face lit up, relief and happiness flowing from him. “Hello, Percy.”

“You had me figured out the minute that claim appeared in the creek, didn’t you?” Percy laughed.

“I had my suspicions,” Chiron confirmed with a laugh before his expression neutralised before transitioning to solemn. “Percy, about the last summer you were here-”

“Chiron, you don’t have to say anything.” Percy cut him off swiftly.

The centaur sighed. “No, Perseus, I do. Please?”

Percy could only nod.

“I have known you since the day you tumbled down the hill after fighting the minotaur and fell unconscious on the porch. I’ve watched as you’ve sacrificed yourself again and again for this camp. I’ve spoken at the lighting of your shroud twice now, and the only reason it wasn’t thrice was due to Mr Grace’s arrival at camp giving us hope that you were in a similar situation. You’ve been instrumental in the saving of Olympus twice, you’ve done things that the Heroes of Old did not even dream of. And yet when a smarmy little upstart walked across the borders with such a disregard for Peleus that my skin began to crawl, I still threw away years of trust and friendship in a misguided attempt to end up on the good side of Mr Burns. Who, in the last five years, has done nothing to better this camp or himself, and has disrespected your memory almost every day in a manner I should have never tolerated from him as I would never tolerate it from anyone else.” Chiron spoke at length. “I should never have allowed him to treat you as I did and I certainly should not have allowed your friends,  _ your family _ , to follow suit. Because that is what Camp Half-Blood is supposed to be. A family.”

“Chiron-” Percy felt a little choked up.

“I’ve wanted to apologise to you since the day Nico came bursting through the doors of the house, note clutched in his hand, yelling that you were gone. Though we could barely understand what he was saying because of the tears, we eventually got the gist of it.” Chiron continued. “I can only hope that you can accept my apology.”

“Of course I accept.” Percy couldn’t say anything else. “I would never have agreed to come back if I had not forgiven you long ago,” he admitted. “When Chaos presented us with the mission, I could have simply refused or demanded to be sent with Scorpio. I wanted to return, I wanted to see you all. I missed you.”

“I have missed you too.” Chiron nodded. “I’ve not had to deal with a demi-god with such potential to turn my coat grey in centuries.”

“You put up with the Hermes Cabin on a daily basis.” Percy pointed out.

“I can anticipate the Stolls’ brand of madness.” Chiron chuckled. “Yours, not so much.”

“I thought you said you’d never tell anyone that I cried.” Nico grumbled, causing a laugh to come from Percy and break the threat of tears that had fallen upon him.

“Apologies Nico, but I figured that Percy would have presumed.” Chiron’s eyes twinkled with undisguised laughter.

“He didn’t even tell me that he was the one who found the notes,” Percy admitted.

“Of course I did, I’m the only one who would still step foot in your Cabin when Natty was still in there.” Nico pointed out. “Leo was banned from entry after what he did to his eyebrows.”

“And his clothes.” Leo grinned. “Don’t forget his clothes.”

“Some of us  _ can’t  _ forget what you did to his clothes, Leo.” Percy shuddered. “You didn’t have to share a Cabin with him.” It was one of the few acts of compassion Percy had shown Nathan when he had supplied him with some spare clothes. Though it was mostly motivated by selfishness – the image of walking into the Cabin to find Nathan with just a pillowcase wrapped around his waist was forever seared into Percy’s brain and it was wholly Leo’s fault. When he’d advised Leo on how best to burn Nathan’s bed he hadn’t considered the possibility of Leo burning even the clothes that Nathan had on, only sparing the pillowcase that Nathan had been washing in the  _ salt-water  _ fountain after he’d slobbered on it a little too much in his sleep. Honestly, Percy had never been more relieved that Nathan drooled during the night - one of the only traits they seemed to share - since the idiot had never thought just to grab some of Percy’s ‘inferior’ clothing.

“Fond memories.” Leo grinned.

“You’re twisted.” Percy shook his head.

“No, I’m Leo.” Leo countered.

“I’m ignoring that.” Percy shook his head. “Please, for the love of the gods stop with the dad jokes otherwise I won’t involve you in the plans for tonight.”

“Plans?” Chiron asked mildly, raising an eyebrow.

“I figured that I should probably warn you of my plans concerning Camp tonight.” Percy grinned. “I need to borrow Nathan’s sword, but I highly doubt he’ll just offer it up.”

“First, before you start discussing theft, I want to finish my apology properly.” Chiron fixed him sternly. “I truly am sorry, Perseus.”

“I forgive you.” Percy acknowledged and felt as if a weight was gone from his chest. “So long as you don’t call me Perseus for a while.”

“It depends on your plans for tonight.” Chiron raised an eyebrow.

Percy grinned. “Well… We’re going to have to figure out a way to disguise the theft of Nathan’s sword. We’re going to need a distraction.”

Midnight struck and Nico nearly rolled off Percy’s bed when trying to shift into a position where he could see him clearly. Percy was sat in the armchair in the corner by his bookcase, curled up with a copy of his favourite Harry Potter book. It was obviously well worn and treasured; every book in the series was, they’d been the first full set of books that Percy had read from cover to cover. There was just one glaringly obvious change to them; the name of the author had been covered up with Sally Jackson’s.

Chaos had been kind about the struggles his dyslexia and ADHD caused him when having to read and write mission reports so he’d enchanted this particular series so that the words somehow always appeared in the right order for him, showing that reading could also be for pleasure and not just something Percy associated with struggling for hours at an office desk, trying to decipher what Luke had written in his report so that Percy could ensure there were no… irregularities… on his own. So what if they didn’t tell Chaos everything, the important part was that everything was resolved. 

He’d always enjoyed watching Harry Potter, with fond memories of his mom joking that Percy wouldn’t know what to do with himself if the blue jelly beans she brought home from work were actually Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and the blue ones were a terrible flavour. Bluebottle instead of blueberry, soap bubbles instead of bubble gum. It had only made sense that he read them first.

“Perce?” Nico quirked an eyebrow and Percy was jerked back to reality, tearing his eyes away from the same sentence about Lee Jordan’s Quidditch commentary that he’d been reading repeatedly to look at Nico.

“Yes, dear?” Percy asked, turning the page.

“What time are we causing mayhem?” Nico asked. 

“Mischief.” Percy corrected, wriggling the book at him.

“Sorry, Mr. Marauder, what time are we causing  _ mischief _ ?” Nico spoke dryly, clearly teasing.

“I swear he’s read that damn book that many times he could recite it.” Luke laughing. “Where are you up to this time, Perce, have the Weasley twins given him the map yet?”

Percy sighed and closed the book, sliding it back onto the third spot of the shelf where it belonged. He wasn’t going to be able to read any more of it now that the attention had been turned to him. “We’re only pulling pranks on every Cabin to disguise the fact we’re stealing Nathan’s sword from him. There’s literally no other reason why we’re doing this.”

“We have every reason to be doing this.” Luke grinned. “Namely because it’ll be funny as fuck.”

“We just need to steal something important from every Cabin, there’s no need to go all out.” Percy tried to argue.

“Percy.” Apollo piped up from where he was lying with his back on Percy’s bed but had his legs leaning up against the wall. Percy was just ignoring him being weird, he had no shoes on so the wall wouldn’t be scuffed so he didn’t really care. “You’re speaking to one of Hermes’ kids. He’s been preparing for this all day since you mention the word ‘distraction’.”

“Gentlemen, this is no ordinary pranking.” Luke got to his feet, a wicked grin on his face. “We have a goal and that is to mask the theft of our enemy’s sword and cause as much shit as we can along the way.”

“Oh my gods.” Leo hid his head in his hands while Bellerophon, Patroclus and Apollo all grimaced. “Luke, my man, this isn’t a military exercise.”

“I’ve drafted a list of suggestions of what we should steal from each Cabin, along with a list of pranks that should be played on each Cabin to distract them from the theft for as long as possible.” Luke pouted. “Please let me just have this, it’ll be so much fun.”

“How many people do you need to be able to do this?” Percy asked. “There’s six of us here and I haven’t even attempted to count the number of Cabins now.”

“Well, we’re obviously not going to bother with the Artemis Cabin because none of us want Thals to kill us.” Luke pointed out. “Hera is empty, Zeus and Poseidon will be quick because there’s only Jason and our main target in each one respectively, we don’t need to bother with Hades because that’s just Nico and Nico is staying with us, Dionysus is just Pollux and I’m pretty sure we’ll only be doing the minimum otherwise Castor will have our asses, Hermes will be easier than we all expect because the kids of the minor gods have their own Cabins now, and there are minor gods with only a few kids, and also some minor gods that just wanted a Cabin for any hypothetical kids that aren’t even at camp yet or even are alive yet.”

“Gods of Olympus, Castellan, you have thought this through.” Apollo whistled. “We’re lucky you were too possessed to be a good strategist.”

“I can’t believe you just said that.” Percy buried his head in his hands for a moment before looking up again with desperation in his eyes. “Do you honestly not have a brain to mouth filter?”

“It’s overrated.” Apollo lazily waved a hand.

Luke was cackling, so clearly he wasn’t offended.

“Dare I ask about your nefarious plan?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“ _ Plans _ . Plural.” Luke corrected. “I’ll be one second.”

Luke left empty handed and struggled to re-enter the room with a rather large pinboard. Eventually, he almost fell through the door with it.

“How?” Percy couldn’t find any other words.

“Always have a plan of action.” Luke informed him, looking around Percy’s room for a place to put the board. “Aha!”

“If you accidentally scratch that map, I will haunt you.” Percy warned as Luke hung it over the scratch map of the world that Percy had been meticulous in ensuring he didn’t accidentally scratch any of the foil off for places he hadn’t been. Unfortunately, the map also currently doubled as a reminder for every place on Earth that Percy had been chased by monsters. He also didn’t expect that to change, even if he was given the opportunity to scratch more locations off.

“The map is fine, Percy, keep your knickers on.” Luke rolled his eyes. The blonde stepped back, allowing them to see the multitude of post-it notes, papers and plans that Luke had pinned to the board. “I came up with a few ideas.”

“A  _ few _ ?” Patroclus snorted the sentiment that they were all sharing.

Percy stood up and examined the board. It was a mixture of diagrams, words, names and actual  _ pictures  _ of Cabin interiors and he wasn’t quite sure how Luke had managed to obtain them. He also wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know.

“I went investigating while everyone was at dinner.” Luke shrugged. “I needed ideas.”

“Just how many of us do you actually need to help with this?” Bellerophon asked, sounding fascinated. “I can name several of our teammates who are going to be  _ pissed  _ that they had to miss this.”

“Everyone is going to be pissed that they missed this.” Patroclus pointed out before his expression went slightly wistful. “I miss Achilles.”

Percy winced. “We know, Patch.”

“He’ll miss you too.” Apollo offered. “And from what Percy’s said, everyone who isn’t here will be trying to get back here as swiftly as possible.”

“Let’s focus back on Luke’s master plan.” Patroclus shook his head. “It’ll be a good distraction.”

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Percy groaned as they slipped out of the Cabin. “Are you sure we can’t just steal a few things?”

“We’ve fully committed to this now, Blue, no backing out.” Luke cackled.

“O’Mighty Prank Lord, where to first?” Nico asked.

“We’re saving the best until last.” Luke grinned, gesturing towards the Poseidon Cabin. “We should probably get the largest ones out of the way first.”

Which was how Percy found himself inches away from a sleeping Clarisse, trying to get the dagger from beneath her pillow without waking her or Chris, who was definitely not supposed to be in the Ares Cabin after curfew, but he imagined that even Chiron couldn’t tell Clarisse ‘no’ when she bypassed the rules.

“Sure Heros, great idea to take all of the items that could be classified as weapons from the Ares Cabin, it won’t take forever and a day at all.” Percy hissed after absconding with his haul.

“Oh shut up.” Luke huffed. “I didn’t think they’d have more weapons than the Camp Armoury.”

“The Ares Cabin basically is the Camp Armoury.” Nico pointed out as he dumped his armful of pointy objects in the growing pile.

Leo poked his head out of the door. “Am I bringing Stabby too?”

“Stabby?” Percy asked.

“Stabby?” Luke echoed.

Leo carried out a Roomba that had knives taped to it. “I gave him to Clarisse for her birthday last year. He seems to have grown a few more knives.”

“Why in Zeus’ name would you give  _ Clarisse  _ a Roomba that can  _ stab  _ people?” Luke asked.

“Is Clarisse scary?” Bellerophon asked.

“Terrifying.” Apollo answered cheerfully.

“Stabby can be our main prize from the Cabin.” Luke decided. “It was going to be Fred,” he pointed to the boar above the door, “but Stabby may be-”

“We take Fred too.” Leo cut him off, studying the boar with intent. “Grab him, I’ll be back in a moment.”

When Leo was done, the head of a child’s stuffed unicorn toy was mounted in Fred’s stead. They’d left a note for the ransom of Stabby and they’d replaced every weapon with a foam alternative. And Leo, the little genius that he was, had deactivated the landmines and replaced them with glitter bombs.

And, speaking of glitter, the Aphrodite Cabin had been the next on Luke’s list.

“What’s the plan, before we go in?” Bellerophon asked, eyeing the checkerboard deck and the pillars that supported the porch. “I was promised Barbie Dreamhouse, and this isn’t it.”

“Do you even know what a Barbie Dreamhouse is?” Leo asked, staring at him.

“Well, no, but I was expecting more  _ pink _ than just the lacy curtains, door and flowers.” Bellerophon shrugged, gesturing to aforementioned items. “Where is the pizazz, where are the fairy lights wrapped around the columns, where is the  _ pink  _ that I was promised?”

“You haven’t seen the interior yet.” Luke snorted.

“Pink walls from what I remember being told?” Bellerophon sniffed. “ _ Boring _ .”

“Belle, you’ve been spending too much time with Dove.” Patroclus laughed. “I get that she could tell you stories about the Pegasi at camp, but you did not need to develop her interior design opinions too.”

“It’ll make her happy if we pretty up the Cabin.” Bellerophon frowned. “She’s been so sad since you got here-”

“She has?” Percy’s ears pricked up before uncertainty began to sink in. “I spoke to her about it a few days after we got here, is she still struggling?”

“She doesn’t want to be a bother, you know what she’s like.” Bellerophon sighed. “I say we just cover it in a tasteful amount of fairy lights, almost Christmas Vacation style but with just a little more  _ pizazz _ , and ruin Drew Tanaka’s life.”

That startled a bark of laughter from Leo. “Way to escalate that sentence there, Belle. Perfectly understandable though, Drew is definitely one of Nathan’s inner circle and she’s been evil since the day me, Pipes and Jay arrived here. It’s Tanner’s Cabin too.”

“We also need to steal something.” Luke chimed in.

“Yes, but what?” Apollo asked, looking at the Cabin with an uninhibited glee in his eyes. Percy had a feeling that he was having a little too much fun wreaking havoc on the spawn of his siblings and other relations. Though, the prospect of getting a modicum of revenge on Tanner may have been another reason.

“I can’t remember ever actually stepping foot in there, I used to be too scared.” Percy admitted. “So I’m not sure what they have in there with enough sentimental value that we could take it.”

“Seashell,” Apollo sighed. “It’s Aphy’s kids, all you have to do is steal their Morphe palettes and they’ll be screaming bloody murder before first light.”

“Sounds like you speak from experience?” Luke chuckled.

Apollo rubbed a spot on his head. “I can still feel where her hairbrush connected.”

“Worry about finding stuff when we’re in there.” Nico spoke up, after being quiet for a while. Percy suspected his suddenly full arms had something to do with it as Nico hastily dumped the boxes of fairy lights on Bellerophon before Apollo noticed. Shadowtravel, for sure.

“Neeks is right.” Percy nodded, purposefully drawing attention from Nico to him. He didn’t want Apollo trying to mother-hen Nico as much as  _ Nico  _ didn’t want Apollo to mother-hen him. They’d never reach the Poseidon Cabin before dawn otherwise and Percy wanted to save the best until last. “We need to hurry up.”

“You’d be getting this done a lot faster if you had just asked us for help in the first place.” Silena speaking made Percy jump out of his skin.

“Dove!” He yelped. “I thought you were a harpy.”

“Some may say I am.” Silena laughed. “I recall my Cabin being referred to as a ‘bunch of love harpies’ on a few occasions.”

“I suggested we wake you all, Heros was too intent on executing his plans to allow me time to slip away and grab you.” Percy grinned.

“Nico found us studying the fascinating board in your room when he popped back to get the fairy lights.” Beckendorf nodded. “We thought it was one of Heros’ creations.”

“How did you get there and back so fast?” Apollo narrowed his eyes at Nico.

“I ran.” Nico answered serenely, daring Apollo to dispute him.

“The Cabin is literally only over there.” Percy gestured to it, backing Nico up. “I’d be more concerned if he couldn’t run there and back in seconds.”

“Shall we stop bickering and get on with the plan?” Luke spoke up, clearly pouting.

“Happily.” Silena clapped her hands. “If we start with Drew.” 

They worked through each Cabin, quicker and more effective now that their number had doubled, all eager to be done with the task at hand so they could move on to the bigger target. Nathan.

Percy stood at the door of his father’s Cabin for the first time since he had exited it several years ago. It felt like he was coming home all over again, though he was aware that what lay sleeping inside the Cabin twisted the feeling, dread intermingling with the sense of delight that he felt. He’d missed this Cabin, the place that had been his and solely his for the majority of his tenure at Camp. Now it belonged to another, whose claim upon it was false.

He opened the door and led the way in, Bellerophon on his heels.

He couldn’t stop the utterance from passing his lips, stunned into utter silence afterwards. “What the  _ fuck _ ?”


	31. An Unexpected Guest.

Bellerophon grabbed him and dragged him back outside, worried that he had accidentally woken the Cabin’s occupant. Or, if Percy had seen clearly, he should say  _ occupants _ .

“Blue!” Bellerophon hissed.

“Did you not see that?” Percy asked, gesturing viciously towards the door.

“What?” Nico asked.

“ _ That _ !” Percy repeated, stunned.

“Blue, stop repeating yourself and just tell us what you saw.” Silena instructed gently.

“Has anyone been in his Cabin recently?” Percy directed at Nico. He knew Leo wouldn’t be able to answer with his common absences from Camp. “Cabin Inspections are still a thing, right?”

“Annabeth, Jason, Clarisse and  _ Nathan  _ do them.” Nico huffed. “I refuse to let him in my damn Cabin; Chiron had to ask if I would unlock the door and allow Nathan to do the inspection because the other three were busy one time, which I reluctantly agreed to. Weirdly, Nathan said he never wanted to step foot in my Cabin after a random skeleton appeared to chase him around Camp afterwards.”

“His Cabin does actually get checked, right?” Percy asked.

“As far as I know, yeah.” Nico nodded. 

“Then how the ever-loving  _ fuck  _ does he manage to hide another whole ass human being in there?” Percy gestured widely to the Cabin. “One that should be as dead as the teddy bears he used to maul.”

Nico wrinkled his nose. “Ew, Octavian.” Then it seemed to sink in. “Wait,  _ Octavian  _ is in there?”

“As in my legacy kid from Camp Jupiter who was actually an evil little shit?” Apollo asked, slipping around them and opening the door. Seconds later he was closing it and coming back, face pale. “Yeah, you do mean my legacy kid from Camp Jupiter who was actually an evil little shit.”

“He should be dead.” Nico looked thoroughly disturbed. “Like, deader than dead, he literally died in a flaming ball of demigod.”

“Want to say a variation of dead one more time, Spooky?” Luke asked teasingly before frowning. “Is this guy the one that disembowelled your panda?”

“Yes.” Percy pouted, the panda pillow pet still a sore subject.

“He’s the one that launched himself from an onager?” Leo recalled. “He was the fireball that screamed like a little girl?”

“How is he walking the earth again?” Bellerophon frowned. “Nobody escaped when you were pulling us out of the Underworld, right?”

“It was all on Hades to round everyone up and let you out and he closed the Doors immediately after you all passed through.” Percy shook his head.

“We’ve got less than an hour until sunrise.” Apollo was the one who intervened. “I’m as freaked out about this as all of you, if not more. That’s one of my line in there and he’s  _ not  _ the one I ever wanted to see rise from the grave. But if you want to steal Burns’ sword and disguise it as something else, we need to do it now.”

“He’s right.” Percy sighed.

“We need to split up, half of us need to get the stuff we nicked from the Cabins off the meadow and into our Cabin and the other half need to steal that sword and cause some  _ chaos _ for Burns,” Beckendorf suggested.

“Charlie’s right.” Silena agreed. “You lot should deal with the Cabin and we’ll deal with what’s out here.” She gestured to the original group and then to the other half that had joined them. “Do some damage.”

They were silent as they entered the Cabin, Percy concerned that his outburst and Apollo’s trip in and out of the Cabin had woken at least one of the two people sharing Nathan’s bed.

Apparently though, his worry was for naught.

“Ew.” Nico wrinkled his nose when he realised that Octavian and Nathan were wrapped around each other.

Percy elbowed him in the gut. “Shush.”

“Can I burn all of his clothes again?” Leo whispered.

“Yes,” Nico responded before Percy could.

Percy remained silent, too caught up in what Nathan had done to his Cabin. What was still visible of the walls still shone like abalone, but the majority was covered in huge sheets of paper filled with enough plans to rival Luke’s, with several whiteboards and posters taking up the rest. There were pictures of campers, both deceased and alive. And most notable of them was the poster of Percy himself, a large glossy picture of him stood on the deck by the lake. And as if that wasn’t as uncomfortable enough, the Percy in the poster was shirtless, water still dripping from his body. There was a bright smile on his face, laughter in his eyes. The Percy stood in the Cabin was almost certain he knew when the picture was taken – only days after Nathan had arrived – but he was confused, he thought he would have noticed someone with a camera but absolutely could not recall.

The six bunks were gone, replaced with a solo Queen-sized bed that was occupied by Nathan and Octavian. Above the bed were more pictures, pictures of Nathan and Octavian together, pictures of them with other campers that Percy had seen sat with Nathan at dinner times. Also present and mounted on the wall was the horn of the minotaur that Percy had slain outside of camp borders the night he stumbled across them for the first time, and the javelin that Tyson had created for him to use during the short-lived run of the chariot races. Still present was the fountain filled with drachmas that his father had gifted him, along with multiple mobiles filled with sea creatures hanging from the roof, courtesy of Tyson. Percy reached out and moved one of the soft blue silk curtains and sure enough, the plants and corals that Tyson had also added to the Cabin were still there.

“Blue?” Nico said gently.

“What has he done to my Cabin?” Percy whispered.

“What’s with the poster?” Apollo whistled softly. “I’m not complaining about the view it provides but damn, it’s a little bit of a creepy choice from a guy supposed to be masquerading as your brother.”

Nico elbowed Apollo in the stomach. “One, shut up, and two, was it necessary to say you like the poster?”

“Hypocrite,  _ you _ need to shut up.” Apollo hissed.

“Stop squabbling.” Percy glared at them, hoping that they would stop bickering for five minutes. An unlikely scenario, but he could still hope.

“Mmmm, Tavy,” Nathan mumbled, shifting slightly and tightening his grip on Octavian.

“Ew.” All seven of them shuddered.

“Can we just-?” Percy gestured to the interior of the Cabin.

Leo grinned and darted straight for the chest of drawers that held Nathan’s clothes. Patroclus went to help him while Nico pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“We don’t have time to read all of this.” Nico started taking pictures of the walls. “And the minute he realises that someone was in here and saw it, he’ll destroy it and we won’t have a chance to check it again.”

Percy nodded in understanding, taking himself off to find Nathan’s sword. He groaned when he recognised the hilt of it sticking out from under the bed, as if Nathan had just dropped it on the floor and kicked it beneath the bed to either hide it or just to move it out of the way.

Reluctantly he moved closer, crouching and dragging it out as quietly as possible, wincing as it scraped on the floor slightly. He stilled, rising slightly to ensure that Nathan and Octavian were still asleep before swiftly removing the blade and standing. He pulled the blade slightly out of the sheath to check it was the correct weapon and breathed a sigh of relief. The odd colour of the metal gleamed in the soft light that illuminated the Cabin and confirmed that it was the jagged blade that Nathan had utilised in the arena.

The pile of clothes that Leo was accumulating was growing larger and larger, especially when he started to add spare bed sheets and towels to it. Patroclus was sliding things off hangers and throwing items to join the rest and Percy was swiftly becoming concerned about Nathan’s shopping habits. Though, he considered when a toga was flung from Patroclus’ hand, it clearly wasn’t just Nathan contributing to the mass of fabrics.

Then it dawned on him. Octavian’s presence clearly wasn’t a new one, if the clothes and the pictures were anything to go by. The Roman had been roaming the earth again for a while, and Percy needed to know exactly how long it had been since Octavian had wandered out of the Fields of Asphodel and back into the strawberry fields of Camp Half Blood.

“We need to hurry.” Apollo hissed. He tapped his wrist where a fancy watch sat and Percy squinted at it for a moment before he realised that it showed the time the sun would rise in each time zone.

“Nico, get the duvet,” Leo smirked.

“You could not  _ pay me  _ to grab that thing.” Nico glared at him. “What if they’re naked?”

Leo looked terrified for a moment. “Leave the duvet.” He muttered hastily, scooping up as much of the pile as he could carry.

“Leo, don’t burn it.” Percy followed him outside. “We need to keep it, it proves that Octavian  _ is _ living with him and has been for some time.”

“Fine.” Leo pouted but started to run across the meadow to the Chaos Cabin with it. Bellerophon followed him, picking up the stray socks that fell but left the hot pink thong that was lying in the centre.

Percy slipped back inside, collecting Nathan’s sword from where he had temporarily left it on the desk. Then he placed it back down and checked each of the desk drawers, grinning when he realised that only one of them was locked and Nathan had stupidly left the key in plain sight. He unlocked it and fished out the thick leather journal, taking a moment to check through it to make sure it wasn’t just love letters from Octavian. When he was positive it wasn’t, he tied it closed again, not wanting any of the loose pages to fall out, and locked the drawer, placing the key back in the exact spot he had lifted it from.

“Done?” He raised an eyebrow at Apollo who was gleefully pouring green glitter on every surface, the last person in there despite being the one who had been worried about timing.

“One moment.” Apollo held up a hand, going over to the bag of supplies that he’d been carrying around all night.

From that, he withdrew a bag of rubber goldfish that he poured into the fountain.

Well, Percy thought they were rubber. Then they started swimming.

“Mist.” Apollo winked at him. “I wouldn’t subject real goldfish to the care of Nathan.”

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. “ _ Now  _ are you done?”

Apollo looked around and nodded, apparently satisfied.

“ _ Good. _ ” Percy grasped the journal and the sword in one hand and dragged Apollo out of the Cabin with the other.

“Everyone is going to know it was us.” Silena looked anxious from where she was sat on the stairs, everyone piled into the living room and sitting in various spots. Outside the sun was rising in the sky and they were just waiting until they heard the first shouts of confusion.

“Not if we pretend it’s happened to us too.” Luke suggested, a gleam of mischief in his eyes. “Say that all of our cloaks have been nicked or something.”

“Or, we say that we lock our door but it still looked scuffed as if someone had tried to kick it.” Beckendorf suggested. “I can chip off some of the paint really quickly?”

“Just say we lock the door.” Percy shook his head. “None of the other Cabins had locked doors, the closest thing we encountered in the way of security was the mines in the Ares Cabin. And if we do admit it was us, we say it was a practical demonstration in how easily they were lulled into a false sense of security by trusting us and we had to demonstrate how easily an attack could occur.”

“Training exercise, I like it.” Luke nodded.

“The only person who would be truly freaked out would be Nathan.” Nico pointed out. “Because he’d know that we saw Octavian.”

“I was wondering when someone would bring up the elephant in the room.” Apollo beat Percy to saying it.

“After we’ve suffered through the consequences of my inability to say no to Luke, can you take me to see your dad?” Percy asked Nico.

“Of course.” Nico nodded.

“Oi!” Luke suddenly realised what Percy had said. “You know it was an excellent plan. We got the sword, right?”

“We did.” Percy nodded. He’d immediately taken the journal upstairs and hidden it on his shelves, not wanting Nathan to break in and recover it easily. The sword, however, was resting on his knee.

He looked at Leo and Beckendorf, the resident sons of Hephaestus and realised that Leo had been running around with these people all night and was sat with them now while they were all unmasked and the Firestarter looked like he didn’t have the faintest clue who anyone was. Well, he obviously knew Nico and Apollo and he’d met Luke the night he’d shown up in camp. Introducing him to Bellerophon and Patroclus had just been natural because Percy had originally enlisted their help for the night and the seven of them had spent the evening in Percy’s room waiting. He’d missed Bianca’s unveiling on their first day in camp and Nico had introduced them in the week Leo had been back, but he was still looking at Silena, Beckendorf, Zoë, Michael, Lee, and Castor as if they were aliens. Though, Percy noted, his gaze was mostly fixed on Beckendorf.

“I’ve not introduced half of you to Leo.” He spoke his thoughts aloud, gesturing to said person.

“We guessed who he was.” Castor rolled his eyes before directing his next words at Leo. “Process of elimination, he’d introduced us to Nico so we figured you were the other brother he never shut up about when given the chance to talk about.”

“You look like Pollux.” Leo blurted out.

“My twin.” Castor nodded. “I’m Castor. I died in the Battle of the Labyrinth.”

“Do you lot ever get sick of having to tell people when you died?” Leo shuddered.

“It is a little macabre.” Silena nodded. “Silena Beauregard, Battle of Manhattan. I pretended to be Clarisse to convince her Cabin to join the fray.”

“Clarisse’s talked about you!” Leo perked up. “She’s always said you were the greatest friend she ever had. Pipes, Aphrodite’s current Counsellor, wished she could meet you. She’s always hated Drew.”

“I’ve been meaning to speak to Clary.” Silena nodded. “And I’ve heard about Piper from Percy.”

“And I’ve heard about you from Percy.” Beckendorf grinned at Leo. “How’s my dragon friend?”

“You’re Beckendorf?” Leo’s eyes widened. “Holy  _ shit,  _ Festus is going to freak when he sees you.”

“I-”

There was yelling outside that disrupted Beckendorf.

Percy grimaced and they all moved to put their masks on, switching their cloaks for dressing gowns so it looked as if they too had just rolled out of bed. “That’s our cue.”

“What is wrong with you all?” Chiron asked, wading through the sea of campers, dressing gown wrapped around his torso, blanket draped over his back and rollers still in his tail.

“You lot interrupted my beauty sleep.” Dionysus cut a terrifying figure beside him, purple facemask and leopard print robe that was only loosely tied, revealing a large swathe of his chest. “I spend my time here, looking after you brats, and this is the thanks you give?”

“What’s wrong with us?” Clarisse seethed. “What do you  _ think  _ is wrong with us? Some punk has stolen all of our weapons and swapped them for stupid foam things  _ and  _ taken Stabby. Not to mention the damn  _ glitter _ .” She gestured to herself as an example, a shower of red glitter falling to the floor as she moved. “Someone thought it was funny to rearrange the mines and fill them with  _ this.  _ And I swear to my father, if this crap isn’t the biodegradable type, I’ll mount the culprit’s head where Fred should be, since they’ve swapped him for a kid’s unicorn.”

Of course the glitter was all biodegradable, who did she take them for? Percy knew how damaging the nondegradable stuff was for the environment and the ocean.

“Oh, you think you’ve got it bad?” Drew shrieked. “Look at my feet!” She gestured to the horrific white orthopaedic shoes that Percy recalled Piper telling him about. “I can’t get them off, I swear they’re like totally glued on or something.”

“At least you don’t have wings glued to them,” Travis complained, wiggling one of his own feet as an example of all of the shoes the Hermes Cabin were currently wearing. Connor stood beside him, barefooted and scowling, as another example of those of them who had simply refused to wear them.

“Where in the name of Hermes’ thieving hands is my laptop?” Annabeth came storming out of Athena’s Cabin, a trail of siblings behind her.

“Oi!” Connor snapped. “You don’t hear us saying ‘which of Athena’s big-brained brats thought it would be a good idea to steal our actual winged shoes and our entire stock of Greek Fire’ and blame you lot for it.”

“Come on, are you trying to say this wasn’t you?” Katie scoffed. “You’ve reused the same damn prank!” She gestured angrily to the chocolate bunnies on the roof of the Demeter Cabin.

“We’d own up if it was us!” Chris was standing shoulder to shoulder with his siblings, all indignant that the blame was being placed on them. None of them seemed to notice that his shoes were caked in red glitter, no wings in sight.

“It’s actually lowkey insulting that you think we’d do it again.” Travis huffed.

“I mean, we would because your reaction was  _ funny,  _ but this genuinely wasn’t us,” Connor added.

“Children.” Chiron intervened. “Do not be throwing accusations of blame when you do not know the culprit.”

“LEO  _ FUCKING  _ VALDEZ!” Nathan screeched as he tumbled out of the Poseidon Cabin, bedsheet draped around him in a poorly fashioned toga, glitter all over his bare feet. Huh, Percy thought, Octavian clearly hadn’t helped tie it, or Nathan had just done it as swiftly as possible in order to come and shout at Leo.  He didn't want to think of the reason why Nathan was wearing a bedsheet in lieu of pyjamas.

“Put some damn clothes on, Burns.” Clarisse groaned.

“That’s the problem, I don’t have any.” Nathan snarled. “It was Valdez, I know it. He’s done it once and he said he’d do it again.”

“Oi, Burns, who are you accusing?” Leo asked from where he had seamlessly blended into the group of his siblings, none of whom looked surprised by his sudden appearance. Half of them looked as if they were still too asleep to register that Leo’s presence had not been constant from the moment they’d all emerged from their Cabin.

“You’ve burnt all my clothes again!” Nathan hurled at him.

“No, I’ve not,” Leo stated truthfully.

“If you’re saying that Leo has burnt your crap, we’re saying that you’re the one who has nicked all of our tools.” Jake glared at Nathan. “Because someone has, so we might as well blame you.”

“Children!” Chiron pleaded. “Will you all please quiet down? And will one of you please give me a straight answer as to what is going on?”

Instantly the babbling started again, camper talking over camper.

“Silence!” Dionysus boomed, voice amplified. “For the sake of my head, will you cease your squabbling and speak once at a time. Jackson Grey, you go first.”

Jason let out a long-suffering sigh, obviously now used to Dionysus’ inability to get his name correct. “I heard everything outside before I registered that there was something wrong,” he confessed. “But I’ve got what I’m hoping is a temporary tattoo of Pikachu,” he held out his arm to show where the Pikachu tattoo was placed over the lightning bolt of his SPQR tattoo, tail lining up with the bolt the best Leo could manage. “My sword and spear coin has been swapped for a chocolate one, the statue of my father vandalised and somehow my bed was swapped for a Lightning McQueen one. While I was still in it.”

“Nathan, how about you?” Chiron asked after nodding along to Jason’s words.

“Why don’t you just ask them!” Nathan pointed a finger at Percy and his team. “Look at them, they’re the only ones stood there looking completely normal.”

All eyes went to Percy and his team, muffled laughter rising as everyone registered that they had swapped their usual cloaks for novelty dressing gowns, each of them sporting a different one - the most common theme being animals. Percy stood there, knowing full well that he looked ridiculous with a fin on his head and decided to add to the image, grinning toothily to match the shark teeth that were tickling his forehead. They did not look completely normal.

“We’re just as confused as you are.” Percy shrugged after allowing them a moment to laugh. “But can I just ask everyone who locks their Cabin door to raise their hands?”

Nobody did.

Well, apart from Thalia but that was a given. They’d had no intention of messing with the Artemis’ Hunters anyway because those of them who had experience with Thalia knew that her retribution would be worse than anything they could do.

“Well, there’s your answer as to why we’re stood here looking perfectly normal.” Luke drawled. “We lock our doors at night, windows too.”

“Don’t be stupid Burns – difficult, I know – but they’re new here, why would they do something that would mean we don’t trust them?” Clarisse snorted.

“Someone was in my Cabin last night and I want to know who!” Nathan’s voice turned shrill, a note of fear hidden in there.

“Why Nutella, hiding something?” Nico asked deliberately.

“No!” Nathan shook his head. “I just want to know who was in my Cabin, is that a crime?”

“Well,  _ son _ , I think you’ll find it’s  _ my  _ Cabin.” Poseidon clapped a hand on Nathan’s shoulder, the latter letting out a squeak of surprise as Poseidon gave everyone a sunny smile. Mutters started to circulate as people turned to find their parents amongst them, those gods without kids stood with Chiron and Dionysus.

“Dad?” Nathan sounded terrified, Poseidon’s grip on his shoulder unmoving.

“Sorry to break up this party, but we needed to drop in and have a chat,” Poseidon informed the circle before his eyes zeroed in on something on the floor. “Someone might want to collect that.”

Nathan’s face went the same shade as the thong on the floor. 

  
  



	32. How to Resurrect Apollo's Bloodline: Tried and Tested.

After all of the Head Counsellors had been corralled together and Jason had begrudgingly let Nathan borrow some clothes, they found themselves sitting in the lower tiers of the Amphitheatre. Percy sat between Nico and Luke, their parents stood before them and poised to start speaking.

Percy couldn’t help but hope that this was quick, eager to return to the Chaos Cabin so he could begin to read Nathan’s journal. He was still curious about the composition of his sword, the whole reason they had staged the night of pranks in the first place, but his attention was drawn elsewhere due to the possibility that Nathan’s journal could provide them with insight into the enemy’s plans. 

“You may be wondering why we have gathered you together.” Zeus was the first to speak, the corner of his mouth visibly twitching as he tried to maintain a straight face. To be fair to him, the group of demigods before him did look fairly ridiculous. They were all still in pyjamas and Clovis had already fallen asleep on Butch’s shoulder, feathers stuck in his hair. Several of them were creating a shower of glitter every time they moved and Piper’s hairstyle would make Cindy Lou Who jealous.

They’d remembered that Hazel had been staying in Nico’s Cabin after seeing Frank on one of the spare bunks in the Ares Cabin, forcing Luke to readjust his plan of action to include an excursion into the Hades Cabin. Nico had supervised them closely, grumbling the entire time Luke had him pinning fake cobwebs around his collection of photographs and questioning Luke’s desire to make his usual haunt into a Haunted House. Percy had wisely kept his mouth shut about the fact Nico’s Cabin already looked like it wouldn’t be out of place at Halloween, letting Luke make the comment for him. Seeing his Lieutenant be chased from the Cabin by a skeleton was one of the highlights of the night.

Reyna had wisely sought refuge with the Hunters of Artemis, declining Clarisse’s invitation to another of Ares’ spare bunks and unwittingly sparing herself from a night of madness. Percy made a mental note to corner the trio from Camp Jupiter at some point to ask them a few questions about Octavian. And also to simply talk to them since he had missed them.

“Where’s my dad?” Percy heard Kayla muttering to Lou Ellen behind them and he had to refrain from wincing. It dawned on him that the last time he had seen Apollo he’d been standing amongst Percy’s team in silken pyjama shorts and a light pink sheer robe that was trimmed with feathers around the hem and the sleeves, acting as if it was just something he’d happened to casually pull from his closet. In reality, he looked as if he was due on set any moment to film a scene in which he would be told his very wealthy husband had died under mysterious circumstances.

“Sorry I’m late.” Apollo strolled into the Amphitheatre, as if on cue, and Percy breathed a sigh of relief. He’d reverted back to his Olympian guise, though the blinding white skinny jeans and tie-dye crop top was something straight out of the wardrobe he’d unpacked into the room he had claimed. The Starbucks Frappuccino in his hand was just the perfect added touch to give him a plausible reason to be late. “Line was longer than expected,” he grinned as he brought the metal straw to his lips.

“You could have got me one,” Hermes grumbled.

“Sorry, sugarplum.” Apollo cooed. “I can go back and get you one?”

“ _ Apollo _ .” Poseidon sighed.

“Sorry Uncle Don, did you want one too?” Apollo asked sunnily. “I probably should have taken everyone’s orders but I think I would have broken a nail carrying that many drink trays.”

“No Apollo, just-”

“So, why are we here?” Apollo interrupted, staring pointedly at his fellow Olympians. “You didn’t inform me before arrival. I thought we said that we  _ weren’t interfering. _ ”

“Weren’t interfering with what?” Clarisse spoke up, suspicion colouring her tone.

“Oh, you know, you guys?” Apollo awkwardly gestured to them all. “Bonding?”

“Fairly sure we’re all pretty good friends by now, Lord Apollo.” Jason gave him an awkward smile.

“Between the three, no  _ four  _ different groups in camp.” Apollo tried to salvage his explanation. “We’ve got you lot, my sister’s girls, Chaos’ squad and representatives from Camp Jupiter. Some of the council are of the opinion that there’s a four-way divide of sorts, or there soon will be. I was of the opinion that we wouldn’t be interfering and we’d allow you all to continue without meddling.”

“Lord Apollo is correct,” Nathan spoke up. He sounded spooked. “We do not need the presence of the gods here, no offense intended of course.”

“Why do you sound so apprehensive of the idea, my son?” Poseidon raised an eyebrow. “Scared of something?”

“No!” Nathan was quick to deny.

“Sure about that, Burns?” Clarisse’s gaze had been pinned on him from the moment he’d opened his mouth and Percy couldn’t help but relish in the look of fear Nathan was now sporting. “You seemed pretty freaked out about the idea of someone going into your Cabin before and now you’re getting your knickers in a twist over the parents stopping by.”

“I’m not hiding anyo-  _ anything  _ in my Cabin.” Nathan yelped.

“That was nearly a slip of the tongue there, Nathan.” Percy couldn’t resist getting involved. “Did anyone else hear the start of the word ‘anyone’ there or am I hearing things?”

“Nope, pretty sure dear Nathan was going to say ‘anyone’ then.” Nico gleefully answered Percy’s query. “Hiding your girlfriend, boyfriend, significant other, Nathan? I’m sure they’d enjoy a slip of the tongue rather more than you’re enjoying what yours has got you into.”

“I’m single!” Nathan squawked. “There’s nobody in my Cabin other than me and it’s not like I could hide a person from you all. After all, Cabin Inspection is done every day. I’m not hiding anything!”

“Who checked your Cabin yesterday?” Leo asked. “Jay, Annie, Clarisse, you do the checks as well as him, right?”

“I haven’t stepped foot in his Cabin in nearly four years.” Clarisse snorted. “Every time I go to check it, he tells me Blondie One or Blondie Two beat me to it.”

“That’s funny.” Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Nathan. “Because I haven’t checked his Cabin in nearly four years either because he always tells me that Clarisse or Jason has done it.”

“Huh, now that is  _ bizarre. _ ” Jason’s glare at Nathan was as dark as the clouds gathering above them, lightning sparking within. “Because I haven’t checked his Cabin in nearly four years either, since he’s always assured me that Annabeth or Clarisse had done it.”

“So, Nathan,” Percy asked. “What are you hiding in Poseidon’s Cabin?”

Nathan tried to bolt.

Nathan did not get very far.

“Imbecile.” Thalia snorted as Nathan hit the ground, the silver rope lasso tangled around him. “You’re in an Amphitheatre with multiple demigods and the entire Council of Olympus, did you seriously think you could  _ run  _ away?”

“You’re all freaking me out!” Nathan whined. “I’m not hiding anything!”

“Innocent people don’t run, Nathan,” Nico informed him.

“Oh yeah, then why did your precious Percy run away if you keep insisting he didn’t do anything and it was all my fault that he left?” Nathan hissed.

“Seriously?” Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you have to bring up Percy every single time you can’t get your own way?”

“Choose your next words wisely, Nathan,” Poseidon warned. “Nico will not be the only one you offend.”

“Like you give a shit about perfect Percy.” Nathan snorted. “You’ve always been so glad that I turned up and got rid of the Percy problem- Ouch!”

“My foot slipped.” Thalia shrugged.

“I say we take this opportunity to go and see what Nathan is hiding.” Travis piped up.

“Yeah, he can pick his thong up on the way.” Connor snickered.

“I have never seen that thong before in my life!” Nathan protested.

“Get up.” Thalia dragged him to his feet using the lasso as an aid. “My Lords and Ladies, would you care to lead the way?”

“I don’t think this is fair in the slightest,” Nathan announced as Thalia frogmarched him down the stairs.

“I think this is very fair.” Clarisse grinned. “I’d be walking you along with a dagger to your throat if some punk-ass little bitch didn’t decide to swap all of my Cabin’s weapons for foam ones.”

“Heads up!” Ares shouted.

They all watched the dagger whistle past Nathan’s head, Clarisse catching it with ease as Nathan screamed.

“Thanks, dad.” Her grin only widened as she inspected her new weapon.

“That was assault!” Nathan screeched.

“Oh, will you  _ shut up. _ ” Hades groaned. “Nico, please remind me to steal Thanatos’ tablet and make a note of Burns’ file to give him a punishment that’ll ensure we don’t hear his whining for eternity.”

“ _ Hades _ ,” Zeus warned. “You know that the Ancient Laws would stop you from committing such an action, warranted or not.”

“Brother, please,” Hades sighed and rolled his eyes. “Let me have my fun, I’m only making a joke. I’ll be far more covert when it comes to  _ actually  _ screwing him over for an eternity.”

“That was a threat!” Nathan screeched yet again.

“Wow, you did inherit some brains after all,” Hades said dryly. “You had me worried there. Your mother must be so proud.”

“Do not mention my mother.” Nathan hissed.

“Who is his mother, Poseidon?” Ares asked, casually cleaning his nails with another dagger he had procured, apparently having not learned his lesson from when he took a nail off doing the exact same thing on Olympus.

“You know, I haven’t the foggiest.” Poseidon feigned confusion. “Her name escapes me, though I do believe it started with a G… Grace? Gail? Genie?”

“Shut up!” Nathan snapped. “Stop it.”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Natalie.” Poseidon scolded. “I am your father!”

The humour in Poseidon’s voice and the expression of sheer glee flew straight over Nathan’s head, causing him to pout before opening his mouth to retort..

“Scold your son in a minute, brother, we have a Cabin inspection to carry out.” Hades piped up before Nathan could land himself in hotter water.

“And children to spend time with if we are taking Apollo’s suggestion to leave them be,” Hermes added, eyeing the Stolls. The pair of them were grinning at their father with uninhibited glee and Percy had a feeling that the pranks they pulled last night were not the only ones that would occur that day.

“Yes, let’s hurry this along.” Hera looked down her nose at the demigods.

Thalia grinned. “Lead the way, Natty.”

“See!” Nathan crowed triumphantly as Poseidon burst through the door. “ _ Nothing _ .”

“He was stalling us,” Luke whispered in Percy’s ear, seizing his elbow and gently dragging him away. “He needed to give Octavian enough time to gather everything and go, that’s why he was acting up from the minute he realised that opening his mouth and complaining about the godly presence was an idiot move on his part.”

“We need to catch him,” Percy stated, determined. They glanced over at the crowd of gods and demigods surrounding Poseidon’s Cabin and hoped that it proved to be an ample distraction.

“Well, he either went one of two ways.” Luke pointed out. “Pegasi stables or straight up to the road.”

“No, there’s a third way.” Percy realised. “The Labyrinth.”

“It collapsed. After Daedalus died, it collapsed.” Luke shook his head.

“Pasiphaë reopened it,” Percy informed him. “Hazel told me. We blocked it all off anyway after the battle but the campers used to regard it as cursed so nobody goes near Zeus’ Fist anymore. It’s been five years, who knows, Nathan and his cronies could have unblocked the entrance.”

“It would be the perfect way for them to sneak in and out of camp.” Luke realised.

They both started running, hoping against all hopes that Octavian had only been given a slight head-start and that they were, in fact, heading in the right direction.

“Wait!” Luke grabbed him as they entered the woods, causing Percy to skid to a rather undignified halt.

“Heros!” Percy yelped, having to cling to his Lieutenant in order to remain upright. “Give me some warning, for the love of the gods.”

“Sorry, Bluebird.” Luke snickered and set him back on his feet. “Look,” he pointed to the floor where there was a rather handy trail of miscellaneous pins, paper clips, and post-it notes – all of which Percy and Luke had last seen adorning the walls in Nathan’s Cabin. It didn’t look deliberate, in fact, it looked as if someone had hastily ripped things from the wall and the bits that had held them in place had gone everywhere as someone had made a run for it, arms filled with piles of paper.

“Perfect.” Percy grinned.

They started running again, following the very handy trail. It wasn’t complete by any means, but it gave them a general direction to go in, and in the event that they had to follow Octavian into the Maze, they knew that they’d have some semblance of a clue as to which way he was headed.

Luckily for them - and unluckily for Octavian - Luke rugby tackled said Legacy of Apollo to the ground, mere metres away from Zeus’ Fist. Obviously he didn’t see them coming.

“Get off me!” Octavian shrieked.

“Oh god, he sounds just like Nathan.” Luke groaned.

“Let me go or I’ll, I’ll…”

“Gut you like a teddy bear?” Percy suggested innocently.

Octavian glared up at him from the ground, pinned on his front by Luke sitting on his back. “You must be Blue.”

“I’d ask if the clue was in the cape but I’m still wearing my dressing gown.” Percy snorted, finding some hilarity in the fact they were all wandering around in their pyjamas.

“Nathan may have mentioned you,” Octavian responded mutinously.

“Oh, he does love me!” Percy pressed his hands to his chest, pretending to be flattered. “I thought he had no love for his brother, what with all of the insults and name-calling?”

“You really are as annoying as he said you were,” Octavian complained.

“Oh no, Octavian.” Percy gave him a wicked grin. “I’m  _ worse. _ ”

“Blue, give me the belt of your dressing gown,” Luke asked, easily holding both of Octavian’s skinny wrists in one hand.

Percy tugged it out of the loops, handing it over to Luke so he could tie it around Octavian’s wrists before dragging him to his feet.

“Some people back in Camp are going to be  _ very  _ interested in what you’re doing here,” Percy informed him conversationally, picking up the overstuffed, unzipped duffel bag as he did. “Especially since you  _ died  _ last time you were seen by the majority of Camp Half-Blood. Hades is going to be fascinated.”

“As if Pluto is here.” Octavian snorted, unphased by the threat.

“You’re in Greek territory. Pluto isn’t here, but Hades certainly is.” Luke informed him as he started to make Octavian walk.

“And your boyfriend isn’t exactly Hades’ son’s favourite person.” Percy pointed out. “So he’s going to have some real fun with you.”

“All Nico does is cause trouble for Nathan, it’s totally unjustified.” Octavian rolled his eyes.

“Wait, you aren’t denying the boyfriend comment?” Luke nearly tripped over a tree root.

“Why would I?” Octavian rolled his eyes. “Obviously you two were in our Cabin last night if you knew to come after me. You’d know I’d be lying if I denied it.”

“Dude, Nathan though?” Luke whistled. “A fine specimen such as yourself could do much better. Also, he’s a Greek! You don’t even like the Greeks, you were all for burning our camp to the ground.”

Percy thought it was a good thing that Octavian was walking in front of Luke otherwise Luke’s face would have given away his lie, sheer anguish flickering across it when he’d referred to Octavian as a ‘fine specimen’.

“I like Nathan.” Octavian shrugged. “We’ve been together for nearly four years now, the last reading I did told me that he’s going to propose soon.”

“Oh?” Luke’s jaw dropped, visibly stunned. “Oh wow, congrats!”

“What type of teddy did you disembowel to find that out?” Percy asked, narrowing his eyes at Camp Jupiter’s now-former Augur.

“A panda pillow pet, for some reason they just give the clearest results.” Octavian didn’t catch the resentment in his tone, answering very casually. He didn’t seem very worried for someone who wasn’t supposed to be alive and had been fleeing to escape ten minutes before.

“We have to ask about the resurrection thing.” Percy moved on, knowing he’d make a comment that would give away his identity if he didn’t. “Everyone is going to ask.”

“Nathan knows more than me.” Octavian shrugged. “You’re better off asking him for the gruesome details. I was wandering the Fields of Asphodel one minute, I woke up here the next. Can’t remember where it was, I passed out almost instantly and didn’t wake again until I woke up in Nathan’s Cabin.”

“What, you’ve never bothered to ask how your own boyfriend resurrected you?” Luke scoffed.

“Oh, no, I have,” Octavian responded primly. “I just prefer not to think about it, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And he wasn’t my boyfriend then, he was just bringing back a friend.”

“So you knew him when you were alive?” Percy asked.

“Not personally, no,” Octavian answered. “We were pen-pals, nothing more. Not until he brought me back and we fell in love.”

Percy could see the edge of the treeline and he knew the second Octavian could see it too, the blonde tensing and anxiety flickering across his face for a second before he could fix the easy smile on his face again. There was a definite fear under the cool and collected exterior that Octavian was hiding under.

“Reckon they’re still around Poseidon’s Cabin or do you think they’re back at the Amphitheatre?” Luke asked as they passed the last tree.

“Follow the noise.” Percy shrugged. “We’ll find them soon enough.”

The answer was the Amphitheatre, the blazing row between Nathan and Poseidon audible from afar.

“Really, is now the best time to interrupt?” Octavian asked hastily, digging his heels into the ground on approach.

“Yep!” Luke responded cheerfully.

“-LL YOU DO IS TALK ABOUT HIM AND COMPARE ME TO HIM!” Nathan was screaming within. “YOU DO IT, CHIRON DOES IT, EVERYONE IN THIS ACCURSED CAMP DOES IT. NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU UNBALANCED IMBECILES CAN SEE THAT A HERO IS STOOD BEFORE YOU.”

“We hate to interrupt.” Percy marched in ahead. “You can rant later, Natty boy, but right now, we think we’ve found something that belongs to you?”

Luke shoved Octavian forward to stand beside Percy.

Reyna shot to her feet, Frank, Hazel, and Jason following once they realised who was stood in front of them. “Octavian?” Reyna asked, stunned.

“Tavy?” Nathan’s eyes went wide, flicking between Octavian and the bag on Percy’s shoulder.

“We found him in the woods,” Percy informed the group, keeping his tone casual. “Which is quite a surprising place to find someone who is supposed to be dead.”

“Nico, go and fetch Thanatos,” Hades ordered swiftly, marching towards them.

“No Shadow Travel!” Apollo cried out, trying to glare at both Hades and Nico at the same time but failing as they were moving in opposite directions, Hades towards Octavian and Nico towards the nearest patch of shadow.

“Now isn’t the time, Sunshine.” Nico shook his head before allowing the shadows to draw him in and take him to the Underworld.

“Why are you not in my realm?” Hades asked Octavian.

“How did you know?” Nathan cried, fixing Percy and Luke with a desperate expression. “Who told you?”

“We knew you were stalling for some reason.” Percy shrugged. “Well, we found the reason.”

“Burns, do yourself a favour and keep your mouth shut for a moment.” Hades snapped at Nathan. “You, whatever your surname is. I asked you a question.”

“It’s just Octavian.” Octavian scowled. “Like Beyoncé.”

“You wish you were Beyoncé.” Apollo snorted.

“You don’t think I could be Beyoncé?” Octavian glared at Apollo.

“Nope, so stop being sensitive over it and start answering some questions.” Apollo beamed at him.

“I’m not sensitive at all!” Octavian argued.

“Oh I forgot, you’re not sensitive.” Apollo’s grin only seemed to get wider. “ _ You’re Beyoncé _ .”

“Fine, Beyoncé, what are you doing out of the Underworld?” Hades repeated, interrupting before Octavian could respond to Apollo.

“I swear nobody appreciates the references,” Apollo whispered, though his moment overshadowed. Quite literally.

Thanatos stepped from the shadows with Nico, apparently having heard Hades’ question. “A question that I would also like to know the answer to.” 

“Moonshine!” Apollo sounded delighted that Nico was back. “Do you need an IV? I can magic one up for you?” He wiggled his fingers and eyebrows at Nico.

“Good gods.” Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. “No.”

“Glad to see you care for the demigod.” Thanatos nodded to Apollo as he squeezed Nico’s shoulder.

“He likes me really, don’t you Moonshine?” Apollo grinned at Nico.

“Can we go back to the significant issue of the pillow pet slayer being alive?” Nico gestured to Octavian. “But yes, Sunshine, I tolerate you.”

“See, he loves me.” Apollo cackled before his face turned serious. “But yes, pillow pet slayer.”

“Jackson really made that catch on, didn’t he?” Octavian rolled his eyes.

“You’re really avoiding answering how you escaped the Underworld,” Percy commented. “Heros and I tried to have this conversation with him as we were walking back but he kept saying ask Nathan, ask Nathan.”

“Well, Nathan, how did Octavian escape from the Underworld?” Hades fixed Nathan with a piercing stare.

“I have never seen this man in my life.” Nathan somehow managed to maintain a perfectly straight face as he lied.

“Nathan, you literally called out his name and asked how we knew about him.” Luke groaned. “If you’re going to try and lie, please try and make it more believable.”

“We’ll start off simple, how do you know each other?” Apollo asked.

“Well, since Nathan is trying to say he doesn’t know me, I’m going to let him explain that one.” Octavian glared at Nathan.

“Lovers tiff?” Percy asked innocently.

“Why would that be your immediate assumption?” Nathan’s eyes went wide.

“Honestly?” Octavian looked stunned. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Definitely a lovers' tiff.” Apollo whistled.

“Fine, since my  _ boyfriend  _ won't tell you.” Octavian glared at him. “He brought me back nearly four years ago, we got together about two months later. He knows the circumstances of my resurrection better than I do, one minute I was wandering around the Fields of Asphodel and the next I woke up here.”

“Where?” Hades asked.

Octavian frowned and looked around. “I think it was literally  _ here _ . I haven’t really been out of Nathan’s Cabin much, like into Camp itself, so I’ve not exactly been in here before but I feel like I recognise it.”

“Tavy.” Nathan hissed.

“You want to call me a cutesy nickname  _ now _ ?” Octavian arched a brow.

“They don’t need to know all of the unnecessary details.” Nathan huffed.

“Does our relationship count as an unnecessary detail?” Octavian snapped back at him.

“This isn’t going to get us anything more than what we already know.” Percy pulled Luke back so he could whisper in his ear. “Can you stay here and listen to this shitshow and I’ll go and make a start on the stuff in the bag?”

“Of course.” Luke nodded.

“Thanks.”

Percy hurried back to their Cabin, not wanting to waste any more time. He knew that Nathan and Octavian would be arguing in circles for a while and what they actually told the assembled group would be what Octavian had already told Luke and him in the woods.

Once in his room he dropped the bag on the box at the foot of his bed and finally changed his clothes, swapping sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt that he was fairly certain belonged to Luke for a pair of black jeans and a soft teal hoodie, putting his thumbs through the holes in the sleeves as he walked barefoot over to his bookshelves. Sure, he was interested in the contents of the bag, but what he  _ really _ wanted to read was Nathan’s journal.

He glanced at his desk chair and made an executive decision to sit by his bookshelves instead, knowing that he’d fidget and get irritated at the confines of his desk and that sitting on his bed would be a terrible idea because he’d just end up  _ in  _ his bed and asleep by the end of page one. He made himself comfortable before deciding he wanted a drink, cursing himself. Two trips to the kitchen later – hey, the majority of their missions didn’t come with free catering from the gods – and he was finally ready to read the damn thing.

**_Dear Diary,_ **

**_Nathan Burns here, reporting for duty :)_ **

**_Mommy insisted that today was the day I flew the nest and headed to Camp Half-Blood. Ugh. I’ve never hated anything more, this place is like, totally awful. We have to do chores! Can’t they just like pay some unfortunate cyclops people to do it for us, I’m totally not cut out for manual labour._ **

**_And mom totally fucked up when she picked which of the Big 3 I had to call dad, why she picked Poseidon, I don’t know. It would have made so much more sense for her to say Hades because then I could totally fake the powers better than freaking water shit. There’s this guy, Nico di Angelo (actually cute, ngl), who is Hades’ son and he apparently has a sister at the Roman Camp who can find precious stuff in the ground. Who has earth powers? Me! I could totally fake being able to find stuff, but noooooo, water._ **

**_Also, I have to share the Poseidon Cabin with Percy fucking Jackson who is too gods damn_ ** **_nice_ ** **_and too gods damn_ ** **_attractive_ ** **_for me to cope. He’s going to have to go, I genuinely can’t cope with him. I’m going to have to like, kiss his girlfriend or something which I’m going to hate since I haven’t kissed a girl since Nancy kissed me when I went to Yancy for 9_ ** **_th_ ** **_Grade._ **

****

Percy had to stop reading because he was nearly crying of laughter. It was also because he couldn’t cope with reading more of Nathan’s rambling about his first day of Camp at that time, but it was mostly because he couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that Nathan had called Nico cute. He was ignoring the admission about himself in the same way he’d ignored the lipstick marks on the corner of the shirtless poster, not wanting to ruin his own sanity. His laughter also stemmed from the fact Nathan had apparently kissed  _ Nancy Bobofit  _ and attended Yancy only a few short years after Percy himself. He had a feeling someone would have ended up in a fountain a lot sooner if they’d attended school together and he wasn’t sure whether or not it would have been Nancy.

Instead, he flicked forward a year to find out whether or not Nathan had written down how he’d brought Octavian back.

**_We did it. We brought Octavian back, I’ve got my Tavy back. Everything went perfectly and nobody suspects a thing. They bought it, they all actually bought it._ **

**_Mom warned that a few people might suspect foul play, but nobody did. di Angelo was in too much shock to notice that there was anything amiss and once the campfire finished burning and the full moon broke through the clouds, we were golden. Octavian was reborn from the ashes, a soul for a soul._ **

****

Percy felt sick, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to come up with an explanation for Nathan’s words. A sour taste grew in his mouth as he bit his lip and scanned over the words again, sincerely hoping his eyes were playing tricks on him. He flipped backwards a few pages until he found what looked like either a ritual or a prophecy taped in.

_ Under full moon light, _

_ Exchange the souls in the dead of night. _

_ Blood for blood, _

_ Blood matched through parenthood. _

_ A life given to return a love taken, _

_ Burn the body, reborn from ash, _

_ Your love shall reawaken. _

__

Definitely a ritual. He frantically tore through the pages, trying to find answers.

**_Octavian is a legacy of Apollo. ‘Blood matched through parenthood’… We’ve got an entire Cabin of Apollo’s brats to choose from and I know exactly which one witnessed Tavy’s death. Will fucking Solace, di Angelo’s little love affair. A dangerous choice some may say, but we all think that di Angelo will be too wrapped up in his own grief to notice if the circumstances of Will’s death are suspicious. Tanner has suggested that we break an Oath on the Styx in proximity and hope he f-_ **

****

**** The diary slipped from his hands and he had to run to the bathroom because he was seconds away from being physically sick, shocked to the core that Nathan could happily write about how he planned to murder someone in order to bring back his boyfriend.

“Percy?” He heard a cautious shout as he brushed his teeth to get rid of the sour taste, stepping out to find Hades stood there. “Nico said you wanted to see me and I figured-” he stopped mid-sentence and raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay? You’re very pale.”

“We stole Nathan’s diary, last night.” Percy gestured to where it was lying on the floor.

“I bet that makes for some fun reading.” Hades snorted. “Did he wax lyrical about Octavian enough to make you sick?”

“Hades, I need you to swear that you won’t go and murder him straight away.” Percy crossed the room and picked up the diary with shaking hands.

“I don’t make those types of Oaths with demigods, not after what happened to Will.” Hades shook his head. “I love my son too much to do that to him again.”

“If you won’t swear on the Styx then Uncle, please, I need your word. This needs handling carefully.” Percy pleaded. “Because I don’t want Nico to find out by you teleporting back to the Amphitheatre to kill Nathan and Octavian.”

“What have you discovered in those pages that could upset my son?” Hades looked alarmed.

“Hades, please.” Percy shook his head.

“Fine, you have my word.” Hades huffed. “Now, for the love of Rhea, please tell me before I take that book and read it myself.”

“I think… No, I know…” Percy started before amending. The words were written undeniably in black ink. “Nathan killed someone so he could bring Octavian back. He traded a soul for a soul. Hades, Nathan  _ murdered _ Will.”

  
  



	33. Revelations.

Hades’ face went blank for what felt like an eternity. Then he turned incandescent with rage. “What?” The simple word was roared, eyes flashing with the fires of Erebus. The room seemed to grow darker, shadows crawling up the walls.

“Hades.” Percy responded calmly, knowing that Hades’ anger was not intended for him and he did not mean to intimidate.

“I thought that boy could do no worse.” Hades shook his head, looking grief-stricken. “And now you’re telling me that he’s responsible for the agony my son and my nephew have been in for years?”

“I didn’t even think about Apollo,” Percy realised. “I’d only read the damn thing minutes before you came in, I ran to be sick when it sunk in.”

“How detailed is it?” Hades asked.

“I didn’t read it properly.” Percy shook his head. “I started reading the very first entry and was laughing until I was crying over what he was writing about his first impressions of us and then I wondered whether or not he’d written down anything to do with Octavian’s resurrection since I figured that we weren’t going to get any clear answers from them. Luke and I asked Octavian as we were walking back and he said he didn’t know all of the gruesome details and we should ask Nathan because he didn’t like to think about it.”

He took a moment to collect himself before reopening the diary, easily finding the entry due to the fact a few of the pages had bent when it had fallen to the floor. The words were beginning to shift and manipulate themselves into incoherent jumbles and sentences that looked as if Yoda had written them, starting with the end. He bit his lip, trying to focus, trying to make his brain understand that there was a tragedy lying on the pages before him and he  _ needed  _ to understand it. The more he tried to read, the more frustrated he felt at his inability to process it properly. His emotions were running higher and higher, and it didn’t seem like they were going to take a tumble any time soon.

“If I read that in the state I am currently in, there will be nothing on Olympus, Earth, or in the depths of Tartarus that could stop me from striking that boy down where he stands.” Hades warned, interrupting his thought process. “Whether I gave you my word or not.”

“I know.” Percy grimaced. “It’s just…” He gestured helplessly to the page before letting out a frustrated noise. “I was  _ fine.  _ I could read them, there were just a few stray letters but nothing that made it unreadable. Now it’s just a jumble, everything is moving and nothing will settle.”

“Perseus,” Hades intoned. He looked up to see Hades holding his hand out, offering to take the diary out of his hands.

“You just said-”

“I know what I just said,” Hades cut him off gently. “I didn’t think to ask about your dyslexia though, I do apologise.

He stared at the pages for a long moment before handing it over to Hades, gesturing to where he had stopped reading before he had allowed it to fall to the floor. The god took a moment to skim the rest of the page, his mouth settling into a thin line as his frown deepened. When he reached where Percy had pointed to, he started to read aloud.

**_‘Will fucking Solace, di Angelo’s little love affair. A dangerous choice some may say, but we all think that di Angelo will be too wrapped up in his own grief to notice if the circumstances of Will’s death are suspicious. Tanner has suggested that we break an Oath on the Styx in proximity and hope he fries in the resulting blast. And if that doesn’t immediately kill him, well… Nobody is known to survive one of Zeus’ blasts for very long. Even if Apollo himself rushes to camp to tend to him, death will be inevitable and we’ll have a body to burn on the full moon._ **

**_Once the campers all clear off and the fire is down to the embers, we’ll just have to do the incantation and like a phoenix, Octavian will rise from the ashes of his fallen brother and Solace’s life source will be his. The boy’s soul will be held in the hands of the Fates and they’ll be bound by an eternal promise not to inform Hades or any other Underworld dweller that they are the ones in possession of it. Because I know that di Angelo will search, search desperately. We’ve all seen him looking for Percy in the last year, it’s been an obsession that has caused a rift between him and Solace. They may have fooled everyone with the cuddles and the laughing by the campfire the other week but we all heard the argument when Nico said he was leaving again. He may not even be back in time to light his lover’s shroud which will add to the grief like no other._ **

**_It’ll only be if they can hand Tavy back to the Fates that they’ll release Solace to walk the realm of the living again and that’s a secret I’ll take to the grave if I have to, just so he can keep living.’_ **

****

“So The Fates have Will’s soul?” Percy questioned as Hades looked up from the page to assess his feelings. He was also certain that the god couldn’t read any further at that moment in time. Percy was fully aware of the shadows that had been dancing further up his walls the longer Hades spoke Nathan’s words aloud. “That’s why nobody can find him, they’re bound by an Oath to keep it and keep it secret.”

“This complicates matters severely,” Hades sighed and shook his head. “Because I know the Fates well enough to know that my wrath will do nothing.”

“A soul for a soul.” Percy recited Nathan’s words. “We can swap Octavian back for Will, right? Nathan said himself that it was a secret he was willing to take to the grave, even if he was stupid enough to write it down.”

“It can’t be that simple.” Hades looked stunned, despite the contradictory words he’d just read.

“I know.” Percy agreed, his mind racing over possibilities. “But at the same time, it gives Gaia the perfect leverage over Nathan. Think about it; ‘complete my orders to a T or I’ll send your boyfriend back to Hades and unleash the anger of Nico di Angelo upon you when he gets  _ his  _ boyfriend back.’ He’d complete her orders to the letter.”

“How do we explain this to Nico and Apollo?” Hades’ eyes widened. “Because the minute we tell Nico that Nathan is responsible, he won’t wait to hear the important part of ‘we can get him back’, he’ll be after Nathan like a shot. And Apollo will be on his heels.”

“Unless we don’t tell them.” Percy suggested, though he felt sick to his stomach saying it. “Not until we’ve taken Octavian to the Fates and spoken to them and made sure that there’s no hidden catch. I wouldn’t want to get his hopes up if it turns out that Nathan’s information is wrong.”

“You’re asking me to lie to my son?” Hades shook his head.

“Do you think I want to lie to him?” Percy frowned. “Do you think I want to look into the eyes of someone I love like a brother and tell him I found nothing that explains how Nathan brought Octavian back? To tell him that, and pretend that I don’t know the price of returning Octavian’s soul to Nathan was one he paid with Will’s life?”

“No, I know, I’m sorry.” Hades dragged a hand down his face. “I don’t know what to do.”

“We need to go and get Octavian now, before they’re given an opportunity to flee.” Percy decided. “We can decide what to do when we have him in our custody, under our eyes. We can’t stand here and debate what to do when we don’t know what we currently can do.”

“You’re right.” Hades nodded. “Put on your mask and cloak and I’ll take you back to the Amphitheatre.”

They stepped out of the shadows to find that there was a rather large issue at hand.

Octavian and Nathan weren’t there.

“Where are they?” Percy shouted immediately, alarmed.

“In the cellar of the Big House.” Dionysus waved a hand. “We figured we’d keep them under lock and key while we discussed what to do and how to get answers since they were going around and around in circles in a lovers-”

Hades grabbed Percy’s arm and dragged him back into the shadows before Dionysus could finish, stumbling out into the shade of the veranda of the Big House’s wraparound porch.

Percy ran inside to where he knew the trapdoor of the cellar was from when he’d accidentally spied on Clarisse tending to Chris down there and frantically located the key.

Once open, he raced down the stairs, already knowing before he reached the bottom step that they were gone, slipped from their grasp.

“Fuck!” He cried out, looking at the tunnel down into what was obviously the Labyrinth. Octavian had managed to escape into the tunnels after all, though later than he and Nathan had planned. And he was gone with the one incentive he would have had to return to Camp, Nathan himself.

“We need to organise a team to go after them.” Hades decided, face white. “We need the both of them back, and not just for selfish purposes.”

“They’re not stupid enough to stay in the Maze.” Percy shook his head. “They’ll be using it to get to New York or somewhere even further, no doubt Nathan’s powers as Gaia’s son provide him with coordinates like my abilities do at sea. They won’t get lost, we can’t count on that.”

“We need to tell the rest.” Hades stated grimly. “And we need to locate your Oracle to issue a Quest.”

“What’s happened?” Zeus asked from the top of the stairs.

“See for yourself, brother.” Hades gestured to the hole in the ground. “The son of Gaia has some level of mastery over his powers after all.”

Eventually, they managed to regather the Head Counsellors, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Thalia, and all of Percy’s team, managing to herd them into the war room of the Chaos Cabin. The gods had left for Olympus to discuss matters there and Apollo had slipped off for another outfit and face change, blending back in with the ranks of the squad.

“So he’s gone then?” Clarisse was the one who broke the eerie silence that had settled once they were all settled and had no excuse but to discuss the events of the morning. “They’re both gone?”

“Escaped into the Labyrinth.” Percy nodded. “A tunnel apparently passes right beneath the cellar in the Big House.”

“But how did they get into it?” Annabeth asked. “Nathan’s power of earth as Poseidon’s son is limited solely to earthquakes and Octavian is an Apollo legacy.”

“Leo?” Percy looked across to where Leo was already pulling his phone from his pocket. “You all deserve to know that he was lying to us. We hoped this wouldn’t happen, that he wouldn’t flee and we’d be able to keep an eye on him within camp borders.”

“We hate to ask, but this can’t leave this room.” Luke spoke up, tone serious. “We know we can trust everyone in this room, but we don’t want this getting to one of Nathan’s friends because then they’ll know we’re onto them. It’s bad enough that Nathan has fled.”

“What do you mean?” Connor asked.

“Nathan is part of a cult who want to raise Kronos and Gaia and cause unimaginable amounts of, well, chaos.” Patroclus was the one who took the plunge to explain. “Courtesy of the video Leo managed to capture, we also know…” He stopped and shrugged. “We’ll let the video speak for itself.”

The room exploded into noise when the video ended.

“How long have you known?” Clarisse demanded, voice carrying over the rest.

“Since the night I got back.” Leo answered. “I found Jason and Blue talking and Blue took us to his lair-”

“ _ Leo _ .” Percy sighed. 

“Like I was saying, I found Jason and Blue talking and Blue took us to his lair and explained why they were here while Nico rolled around in Blue’s bed.” Leo carried on regardless. “I showed them the video and voila, we knew that Nathan was dirty.”

“We didn’t want him knowing that we knew.” Percy tried to placate the room. “Which meant we kept it amongst the team.”

“And Jason, Nico, and Leo evidently.” Travis snorted.

“How can we trust you all?” Annabeth snapped. “You can sit there and tell us that we can trust you, that you were just trying to do what’s best to keep us all safe, but really, we don’t know who you are. The only faces we can put names to are Bianca, Bellerophon and  _ Nico _ . We can’t trust you telling us that Nathan is the bad guy and his friends are all part of a cult, when for all we know, you could be the bad guys.”

“Fine, pick one of us.” Luke invited, gesturing around at the team before sitting back with folded arms.

“What?” Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

“You want to put a name to a face?” Luke shrugged. “Pick one of us.”

“Any one of you?” Clarisse asked.

“Apart from Blue, yeah.” Luke nodded.

“Just one?” Travis asked with a wicked grin.

“There’s a few of us who would be willing to unmask ourselves if it meant you’d be more willing to trust us.” Michael spoke up.

“I just figured you’d like the opportunity to pick.” Luke shrugged.

“Alright, put your money where your mouth is.” Clarisse narrowed her eyes at him. “Who are you?”

Luke was quiet for a moment. “Ah.”

“What, were you hoping we’d pick someone else?” Clarisse asked.

“I’m realising that I may not be the best candidate if you want someone you can trust.” Luke grimaced. 

Clarisse leaned forward and put her elbows on the table, staring at Luke. “Cut the bullshit, you know you died a hero, Castellan.”

There were shocked gasps around the table, Annabeth’s jaw dropping.

“Luke?” Thalia sounded stunned. “It’s actually you?”

Luke pulled the mask off and gave Thalia a sheepish look. “Hiya Thals.”

“You’re lucky there’s a table in the way because I don’t know if I want to hug you or punch you.” Thalia shook her head.

“I thought you’d figured it out after a few accidental slips but you didn’t want to address it.” Luke admitted.

“I got my hopes up but then  _ you  _ never said anything.” Thalia shook her head.

“ _ Dude. _ ” Travis and Connor were staring at their brother with wide eyes.

“Luke?” Annabeth practically whispered and Luke’s eyes went to her. She looked as if she had seen a ghost, which was technically what he should be. Just his current form was a lot more corporeal. And breathing.

“Hi Annie.” Luke smiled at her before grinning at his brothers. “Travis, Connor, Chris. It’s good to see you. It’s good to see all of you.”

“You told me I wasn’t going to have any more surprises.” Thalia narrowed her eyes at Percy.

“No, I told you I couldn’t promise that there wouldn’t be.” Percy laughed.

“He’s probably the biggest surprise amongst us.” Silena spoke casually, as if she hadn’t quietly removed her mask during the distraction that Luke provided.

The sound that Clarisse made was one that nobody thought they’d ever hear from her as she  _ shrieked _ , hands flying to her face to cover her mouth.

“I can’t sit here anymore, gods above, hi!” Silena shot up and climbed over all of the awkward limbs until she could safely fling herself at Clarisse, the pair reuniting with various shrieks of delight as Clarisse pulled her into a bear hug.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy watched as Castor rose, mask left behind and started picking his way through the room to where his brother was utterly distracted by the scene between Clarisse and Silena. Castor nudged his brother’s shoulder, standing slightly behind him. “Bit of a surprise, right?” Castor asked.

“Yeah.” Pollux responded, barely glancing up before his entire body stiffened and he did a double take. He shot to his feet so fast the chair ended up on the floor, flinging his arms around his brother’s neck as if he was scared that if he didn’t touch him, he’d disappear.

Percy just sat back and watched, almost wanting to join in but holding back. He wasn’t ready to expose himself to the room yet, to put himself forward for their judgement and their questions.

“Did you speak to my dad?” Nico’s soft voice in his ear made him flinch and he turned to speak to him but found himself incapable of looking him properly in the eye.

“Yeah.” He nodded, throat dry and suddenly incapable of saying anything more. “We spoke.”

“Aaaand?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to expand on that?”

“We should probably get back to discussing the matter at hand.” Annabeth announced, saving Percy from a further awkward interaction with Nico.

“Ever the sensible one, Annie.” Luke grinned at her once everyone had retaken their seats.

“Somebody has to be.” She gave him a soft smile. An idle thought crossed his mind at the sight; he couldn’t help but think that he’d missed seeing her smile, especially when her smile had been directed at him. For a moment he couldn’t help but wonder what she’d do if he was to remove his mask, whether her reaction would be happy or sad to see another face from the past.

“Do you trust we have your best interests at heart now?” Percy asked the campers, trying to ignore his thoughts about their previous relationship; hoping that seeing Luke, Silena, and Castor had swayed people into trust.

“Don’t hide anything from us in relation to Nathan and his cronies again and yeah, I think we could work well together.” Clarisse nodded.

“Miss Chase?” Percy turned to Annabeth, unable to stop himself from addressing her in a way she hated. There had been times in years past that he had called her such and she had groaned at him and told him that he sounded like Chiron or one of her father’s friends. “Since you were the one who spoke out about not being able to trust us, what say you on the matter now?”

“Like Clarisse said, if you don’t hide stuff from us again, this can work.” Annabeth thankfully agreed, though she had narrowed her eyes at him for his choice of address. “And please, never call me Miss Chase again.”

“What’s the plan then?” Travis asked, looking around the room.

“We need to go after them.” Percy blurted out. He could feel the concerned gazes of his team on him, all of them recognising the slight panic in his voice.

“Blue?” Luke frowned.

“Hades needs to speak to Octavian as soon as possible.” Percy forced out, trying to level his tone. 

“What did you find in that bag of information that’s got you so shook up?” Luke asked, immediately calling him on it.

“What bag of information?” Kayla asked. Percy couldn’t bring himself to look at Will’s sister in the same way he couldn’t bring himself to look at Nico and Apollo.

“So we  _ may _ have been responsible for what happened last night.” Bellerophon admitted, thankfully answering for him. “We needed a cover for sneaking into Nathan’s Cabin and stealing his sword, so naturally we went into every Cabin and stole something which we’ll return to you after this, we promise, and he had boards and posters of information, and pictures of people  _ everywhere _ . It’s how Blue and Luke knew to go after Octavian actually, but Nathan stalling meant Octavian had time to rip it all down and take it with him when he fled.”

“We knew it was you lot.” Clarisse rolled her eyes. “I was covering for you when I said what I said to Nathan. Figured it wouldn’t be without reason.”

“I knew that Nathan and Octavian weren’t going to tell us anything in the Amphitheatre, so I came back to start looking at it.” Percy shrugged. “I didn’t get very far between getting changed and having breakfast and Hades coming to find me.”

“What did you find out though?” Nico asked.

Percy stiffened. “Some names here and there. Names of current and former associates.”

“Such as?” Nico pressed.

“Drew Tanaka, Tanner Swan-” he forced himself to ignore Nico’s sharp intake of breath at the mention of the name, feeling even worse about what he knew, “Finn O’Leary, obviously Octavian, Ellis Wakefield-”

“I’m going to murder him, I told him to stay away from Nathan.” Clarisse growled, which answered the question of which Cabin he belonged to.

“There was a mark beside his name for ‘former’ so I can only assume it means your talk knocked some sense into him.” Percy informed her. “I’ll bring the full list down later, it doesn’t matter right now. We need to discuss a Quest to hunt down Nathan and Octavian.”

“What, you, Luke and Nico?” Clarisse rolled her eyes. “Because that’s obviously who you’ll want to take.”

“I was thinking a larger number.” Percy shook his head. “Seven worked, didn’t it?”

“Seven again then?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He didn’t know whether she was impressed or unimpressed.

“I was thinking otherwise. Three of us, three of the Greeks and three of the Romans.” Percy countered. “At least.”

“Who?” Katie asked. “You’re obviously picking from people in this room, or you wouldn’t have invited us all for a meeting.”

“Actually, we’d best make it twelve.” Percy amended his earlier suggestion, remembering that he’d forgotten to count himself when he internally picked his trio of Luke, Nico, and Apollo.

“Twelve of us on one Quest?” Jason whistled. “That’s  _ asking _ for trouble.”

“Well I need Nico, Luke and Solis with me.” Percy responded.

“You’re taking  _ me _ ?” Apollo asked.

“You’re taking  _ him _ ?” Nico groaned at the exact same time.

“This is going to be so much fun.” Luke cackled. “Neeks is going to end up throttling either him or himself.”

"Anyways," Apollo interjected loftily. "You need people of intelligence on this sort of… mission… quest… thing."

"Well, that rules you out, Solis." Nico snickered.

"Alright Merry and Pippin, shut up for five minutes would you?" Percy sighed, having a feeling that he was just asking for trouble by taking the pair of them.

“And who do you want from our crowd?” Clarisse raised an eyebrow.

“Leo.” Percy gestured to the boy who was making a fighter jet from pipe cleaners.

“Hell yes!” Leo responded and accidentally set his creation alight.

“That makes five.” Jason counted.

“Add yourself to the count.” Percy grinned at him.

Jason’s smile was wide. “Happily.”

“Six.” Annabeth folded her arms. “Six of how many?”

“Well, are you coming or not?” Percy asked her. He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well but asked regardless.

“Seven.” She stated in response.

“Frank, Hazel, Piper?” Percy propositioned the three of them. “I’m already taking three of the Seven.”

“If Reyna can spare me?” Frank looked at his fellow Praetor.

“You’d only be doing what Jason and Percy did before you.” Reyna laughed. “Go, Zhang.”

“I’m in too.” Hazel agreed when Frank nodded.

“I’ve been wanting a good trip out of Camp.” Piper grinned.

“That makes ten.” Apollo announced gleefully.

“Thalia?” Percy turned to the daughter of Zeus. “I can’t count on just Solis and Zhang to shoot straight.”

“I can’t leave the girls.” Thalia winced.

“What if I looked after them for thee?” Zoë offered, pushing her hood down and pulling her mask off. “Between Bianca and I, we shall look after them fair enough.”

“I don’t think that anyone, even Artemis herself would protest that.” Thalia looked relieved. She already knew Zoë’s identity from hearing her familiar speech, the revelation was for the benefit of the rest of the room. “If Zoë and Bia babysit, then sign me up Blue, you’ve got a deal.”

“Twelve?” Annabeth asked, raising a brow once again. “I’ve only counted eleven so far and you seem to be looking around for other options.”

“If nobody else in here would like to go, I suggest we ask Grover.” Percy suggested. “He’ll be able to  _ sniff  _ Nathan out.”

“Grover makes twelve.” Annabeth nodded. “We just need to wait for approval from the gods when they return.”

“If that’s settled, I’m going to head up and carry on trying to sift through that information.” Percy made his excuses. “Feel free to stick around. This lot will return your stolen goods.”

He made his escape, feeling as if he couldn’t stay in the room any longer. There were still so many details to iron out – when they would leave, visiting Rachel for a Prophecy, how on earth they would travel – but he just needed time to himself.

Safely inside his room, he hurled his mask and cloak onto his bed and sank into the armchair beside his books. He rested his head in his hands, hunched forward and resisting the urge to cry.

“Are you planning to tell me either what I’ve done wrong or what has upset you that involves me, or are you just going to carry on acting like I don’t exist?” Nico’s hurt tone, followed by the slam of the door punctuated his thoughts. “Because I’m not going anywhere until you at least  _ look me in the eye _ .”

Percy looked up and couldn’t help the tears that started to fall when he saw the look on Nico’s face, knowing that anything he was about to tell him would only add to the anguish.

“Percy?” Nico flinched, obviously not expecting tears.

“I’m sorry.” Percy shook his head and frustratedly wiped at the tears with the sleeve of his hoodie. “Give me minute and you can be angry with me.”

“I’m not angry with you, I just don’t understand why you suddenly can’t talk to me.” Nico frowned. “What did Octavian tell you that freaked you out so much?”

Percy stared at him for a moment before making an executive decision. He’d deal with the fallout from Hades later, if there was one. “Can we do this really awkwardly and like, cuddle?”

“What?” Nico let out a surprised laugh.

Percy nervously patted his knee. “If you’re sitting on my lap, you can’t punch me in the face.”

Nico rolled his eyes and marched over, sitting sideways so he could throw his legs over the arm of the chair and lean back enough so that they could still look at each other as Percy had moved to sit at a slight angle too. “Happy?”

“With this, yes.” Percy agreed. “But right now, no.”

“Why?” Nico asked.

“The only people who know are your father and I.” Percy decided to start with. “And we both agreed that earlier was not the time to tell you because we thought we’d have the opportunity to deal with it ourselves and we wouldn’t get your hopes up if Nathan’s information was wrong. But Octavian and Nathan are gone and I can’t lie to you. This is something you need to know.”

“What is it, what do you mean about getting my hopes up?” Nico frowned at him. “Percy, you’re scaring me here.”

“I lied about what I was doing earlier. I wasn’t looking at what was in the bag.” Percy admitted, glancing over at the desk where Nathan’s diary lay. “I started reading Nathan’s diary and what I found out made me physically sick.”

“I’d crack some joke about Nathan waxing poetically about Octavian being that sweet it made you sick but you’re being far too serious for that.” Nico’s frown deepened.

“Your father made that exact joke before he realised I was being serious.” Percy allowed a small smile to flicker across his face. “But no.”

“Just tell me, I can handle it.” Nico poked his chest.

“I decided to check and see if Nathan had written anything about Octavian’s resurrection, to find out how they did it since they weren’t exactly being forthcoming with the details.” Percy explained. “I found that and more.”

“How?” Nico asked.

“It was a ritual, a soul for a soul.” Percy said before taking a deep breath and preparing himself before continuing. “For it to work, it had to be a blood relation through parenthood. Octavian is a legacy of Apollo,” he nearly stopped, realising that Nico had tensed, “so they picked one of Apollo’s children as an exchange. It had to be done on the full moon, Octavian would be reborn from the ashes of the aftermath of a shroud burning.”

Nico had completely blanched.

“It was dated to the July full moon, nearly four years ago.” Percy admitted softly. “The Oath was broken deliberately, Nico, I’m so sorry.”

Nico buried his face in Percy’s chest, sobs wrecking his body. Percy could do nothing but hold him and comfort him, wanting to let him process for a moment before springing more information on him.

When the sobs had quieted to gentle sniffing, Percy ignored his own tears and started to speak again. “The Fates have custody of his soul, that’s why you couldn’t find him.”

“Oh gods.” Nico choked out.

“I know.” Percy stroked his back. “According to Nathan’s diary, if The Fates were given possession of Octavian, they’d relinquish their hold on Will and he’d be returned to us. To you.”

“What?” Nico reared back, looking at him with eyes filled with hope.

“I only hope it’s true.” Percy stated. “Because that’s why I said we were going after them like I did. We’re going to get them and we’re dragging Octavian to face the Fates, even if he’s kicking and screaming.”

“You drew the fucking short straw with my dad, having to tell me.” Nico’s voice was soft, heavy with tears. “I can’t believe it.”

“We’re bringing him back.” Percy promised. “We’ll bring him back and I’ll let you cut Nathan into tiny little pieces if you want to.”

“We’re bringing him back.” Nico repeated, a dazed smile appearing on his face before tears started falling again. “Fuck, we’re bringing him back. I promise these are happy tears, oh gods.”

Percy couldn’t help but smile, relieved that Nico was smiling. He allowed Nico to cling to him for another proper hug for a few minutes before speaking the issue on his mind. “Rock, paper, scissors on who has to tell Apollo?”

  
  



	34. Despite Popular Belief, Percy has a 'Plan'.

After Nico had decided that he’d had enough time to process it, and also cry a little more, he decided that he wanted all of the people who would be on the Quest to know why he’d be out for Octavian’s blood, quite literally. He just wanted to tell Apollo separately, knowing that the god wouldn’t be able to sit there and pretend he was a random demigod if Nico and Percy were stood there explaining what Nathan had done with his son to bring back his Legacy. It wouldn’t be fair to do that to him, not after the care and affection he’d shown Nico for the past few years.

“I’ll tell him.” Nico nodded, steeling nerves and hoping that the twisting knot of his stomach would settle. “Just stay with me?” He asked Percy, biting his lip. He didn’t want to have to face Apollo alone, knowing he couldn’t solely handle the grief of the god.

“Of course I’ll stay.” Percy promised. “I’m going to follow you around just like Apollo does after he’s caught you Shadow Travelling and you’re going to be sick of me.”

“I could never get sick of you.” Nico informed him before reluctantly moving and standing up, knowing it was better to speak to Apollo sooner rather than later. “I’m going to drag Apollo up here if that’s alright, I want to get it over with?”

“I can go if you want?” Percy offered, already moving. “I’ve been crying less and I’ve got the added bonus of being able to put my mask on.”

“It’s alright.” Nico shook his head. “You stay here.”

He headed for the door, opening it just as Apollo himself was about to knock.

“Hi Moonshine, just the person I was-” Apollo stopped, frowning when he saw the puffy, red eyes and the hint of tear tracks that Nico hadn’t managed to wipe away properly. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“I was coming to get you, I need to tell you what Percy has just told me.” Nico pulled him into the room and shut the door behind them.

“That was quick.” Percy provided a small laugh to cheer him up.

“Have you been crying too?” Apollo asked, alarmed. “Moonshine, Seashell, what’s wrong with you two?”

“We’ve just had a very emotional chat.” Percy spoke for him. “Nico wants to explain it to you.”

“It’s about Will, isn’t it?” Apollo asked, fear flashing on his face.

“Apollo, let me explain.” Nico raked a hand through his hair. “Because you’re just going to freak out and I’m not emotionally stable enough to deal with that right now.”

Percy watched on as Nico told Apollo what Percy had just told Nico, sitting back and letting Nico speak for himself aside from minor interjections when Nico had looked to him for help. Apollo remained silent the entire time, tears welling in his eyes the further into the explanation Nico got. The revelation that Nathan had a hand in Will’s death shocked a sob from the god but it was the only noise he made until Nico told him that if Nathan’s information was correct, that if they handed Octavian over to the Fates they would release Will back into the world of the living and they’d be reunited. That’s when Apollo broke.

The god that Percy was so used to seeing present a picture-perfect image of himself was in tatters, illusion shattered. He knew that if anyone made a comment about the gods not caring for their kids, he would be haunted by the image of Apollo before him as a reminder of one who obviously does. It was almost somehow worse that Apollo was currently in the form of a teenager, unnerving in the sense that he could freely blend in with his children at that moment and nobody would assume that he was a god who had lived through so much loss.

He picked up the diary again to distract himself, allowing Nico and Apollo a moment of privacy without leaving the room. He’d made a motion to it once and Nico had just glared at him so he’d stayed put. He let it fall open, hoping to glean some more information - dyslexia permitting.

**_I’ve had Octavian back for two weeks and it has been amazing. It’s just unfortunate that I can’t show that happiness outside of my Cabin since it seems the whole camp is in mourning for Solace, not just di Angelo. I never realised that he was so important, even if he was the Head Counsellor for his Cabin. Apparently he’d been here for years and had wormed himself into the good graces of many. His siblings are in uproar, none of them want to be the one to step into his position. And, to make matters worse, Apollo is here. He hasn’t left since Dionysus summoned him when Will was dying and he’s been guarding his kids and di Angelo like another one of them will die if he lets them out of his sight._ **

**_di Angelo has been a mess. He arrived a few hours after Will died and we all know when Apollo told him because the sky went_ ** **_black_ ** **_. The shroud burning was actually hard to watch, even though I knew it was how we were getting my Tavy back. He was a mess. At least when he burned Jackson’s shroud he wasn’t standing there crying with only Apollo as support, the rest of the Seven were standing there crying as well._ **

**_I almost wish that there was a different way we could have done this but then I remember what it was like to see Octavian’s eyes open for the first time and I know that I would have sacrificed the entire Apollo Cabin and di Angelo himself if I had to. I just know that nobody can ever find out, otherwise di Angelo would drag Octavian back into the Underworld himself._ **

****

“Percy?” Nico’s voice made him stop reading and look up.

“Both okay?” Percy asked, noting the two weak smiles they were sporting. “Murderous thoughts towards Nathan and Octavian present but at bay until we catch them?”

“Is this why you picked me to come along?” Apollo asked.

“Not the only reason.” Percy shook his head. “Obviously I didn’t think it would be fair to tell you and then leave you in Camp while we went after them, and I knew that you’d want to come and mother-hen Nico into insanity. But I was also being a little selfish with the knowledge that having a god on our side will certainly give us an advantage. Plus, if Gaia has been raising the Giants, we’ll be able to defeat them without having to wait for assistance from Olympus.”

“I didn’t even think about the Giants,” Nico groaned.

“I didn’t either, but it makes sense if Kronos and Gaia are both rising.” Percy sighed. “They’ll do everything in their power to ensure their success.”

“They’re supposed to be dust, spread so far apart that they couldn’t possibly rise.” Apollo shook his head. “Especially not in your lifetimes.”

“That’s why I’m reading this.” Percy waved Nathan’s diary. “In the hopes I can find some answers in amongst his descriptions of Octavian’s physical appearance and his ratings of different campers’ attractiveness.”

He didn’t want to describe what he’d actually just read, not wanting to add to the upset already present, but his summary was a pretty accurate description of the early contents of Nathan’s musings. 

“That must make for some entertaining reading.” Nico seemed glad to take the conversation in a different direction.

“Some of it, yes.” Percy nodded. What wasn’t entertaining was left unsaid.

“You made some interesting choices down there.” Apollo decided to circle back to their earlier topic of discussion. “Why take  _ twelve _ when you could have just taken Nico and Luke?”

“Call it a gut feeling.” Percy shrugged. “I don’t want them to surprise us and have the upper hand. We were blindsided by the revelation about Octavian, we didn’t have a clue that he was alive, let alone living in Poseidon’s Cabin, and I don’t want him springing another surprise on us. He’ll be expecting a team of three after him, not twelve, because he’s operating under the illusion that we don’t know what he did to bring Octavian back  _ and  _ he still thinks that we think he’s my brother.”

“You’re talking sense, Seashell.” Apollo nodded along with his explanation for a moment before pausing and tilting his head in confusion. “Why  _ twelve  _ though?”

“I counted all of the people I wanted, added one for the inevitable possibility I’d remember another halfway through, and made it sound as if I knew what I was on about,” Percy grinned. “Us four and the Seven make eleven- wait…” He realised he had counted himself in both groups. “Us four, Thalia, and the six of the Seven make eleven, add Grover as the bonus and we get twelve. Twelve gods, twelve of us, works out quite well really.”

“We trusted you with  _ two  _ Great Prophecies.” Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose. “How Olympus isn’t in ruins yet, I don’t know.”

“Turns out I wasn’t even the hero of the first one, that was on Luke, and there were six other heroes to blame as well as me if the second one didn’t work out.” Percy pointed out before realising something. He narrowed his eyes at Apollo and huffed. “Which wouldn’t have come about so soon if  _ somebody  _ hadn’t meddled.”

“That wasn’t just me.” Apollo had the decency to look sheepish.

“I didn’t say it was.” Percy countered, smirking at him. “At least you’re willing to admit partial responsibility though.”

“Seashell, for you I’d admit anythi-”

“Percy has a point,” Nico realised, cutting off Apollo. The latter’s expression immediately turned indignant, folding his arms as he sulked over being interrupted. “There technically is one of us for each Olympian. If you count my dad instead of Mr D and also pretend he gets two instead of Hera. Also Zeus, with Jason and Thalia but technically she represents Artemis. So we’ve got Jay for Zeus – Jupiter if we’re being pedantic, Perce for Poseidon, me and Hazel for my dad, Luke for Hermes, obviously you for yourself,” Nico gestured at Apollo, “Leo for Hephaestus, Frank for Ares – well, Mars, Pipes for Aphrodite, Annabeth for Athena and Thalia for Artemis. I guess we can say Grover and Demeter kind of match up? We’ve got a representation of nearly every godly power.”

“Oh yes.” Percy nodded his head as he spoke. “Totally what I was going for. You figured it out, Neeks, my great plan.”

“Percy.” Nico levelled him with a look. “You had no plan. You _ still _ have no plan.”

“Yes I do.” Percy answered to be contrary. He also didn’t want to admit that Nico was right; the first rule of having a younger sibling was to  _ never admit that they are right,  _ and he wasn’t about to break that rule then and there.

“What is it then?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“It is a plan.” Percy grinned, hoping to stall for a moment until he actually came up with the thing he supposedly already had. “To go after Nathan. And Octavian. Since they escaped. Together.”

“Two prophecies,” Apollo whimpered softly.

“We need to go and see Rachel and get one of those.” Percy pointed out. “See, I know what I’m doing.”

Nico groaned as Percy pointed finger guns at him, which did not help his argument that he knew what he was doing.

“We need approval from the gods to go, which we’ve essentially already got,” Percy listed, gesturing to Apollo before continuing, “we need a prophecy from Rachel, we all need to pack, and I also need to talk to Piper.”

“About Drew?” Nico asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Jay said she was acting funny.” Percy shook his head. “Last week. I’ve been trying to figure out what he meant and I’m pretty sure I’ve got a fairly accurate idea. I’d just rather deal with it before we go running after Nathan and Octavian.”

“Do you have any idea where we should head for? Does that diary of Nathan’s hold any insight into where they might go?” Apollo asked, eyeing said diary with interest.

“Well, we aren’t going into the Labyrinth.” Percy decided, shuddering at the thought of descending into the dark. He wanted to avoid entering the Labyrinth at all costs and all he could do was hope that Nathan and Octavian weren’t planning on staying down there for long.

There was a knock on the door before he could continue.

“Is everyone decent?” Luke asked before sticking his head in and giving Percy a wicked grin. “Good, you’re all wearing clothes. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are back and want to see us all.”

“Thanks for the nightmares I’m going to have tonight.” Percy stated dryly.

“I told you once, Seashell, the only dreams that you should be having with me in them are good ones.” Apollo cackled, wiggling his eyebrows when Percy made the mistake of looking in his direction.

Percy flipped him off before focusing on locating his mask and cloak. “I’m just going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“I need so much therapy because of you.” Nico groaned, shaking his head.

“Bicker later, come and deal with the Big Three now.” Luke motioned for them to hurry up.

“Yes, dearest.” Percy swirled his cloak around his shoulders and gestured for Luke to lead the way.

“How come he gets dearest and I get nothing?” Apollo shouted after him.

“Sorry Buttercup!” Percy teased, bouncing down the stairs after Luke to the sound of Nico groaning. “You have to earn my affections.”

“Stop encouraging him!” Nico yelled after him. “Or I’ll add you to the list of people paying for my therapy!”

Percy practically fell through the door after Luke, laughing.

“Wow, he does have a sense of humour.” Reyna commented, mystified.

“Where is everyone?” Percy asked, instantly noticing that there were less people in the room than there were when he left it. “I thought you wanted us to hurry?” He huffed at Luke.

“If you’d hurried up, maybe people wouldn’t have wandered off.” Luke teased, grinning at him.

“I had to speak to Nic and Solis, it’s not my fault people have gone walkabout.” Percy bickered. “ _ You _ were the one babysitting.”

“Hi Blue, lovely to see you too.” Poseidon chuckled, interrupting before Luke could say anything back to him.

“Dad!” Percy zeroed in on his father.

“Does your old man get a hug or do you have to chase down errant demigods?” Poseidon asked, a twinkle in his eye.

“Well, I do need to go and round up the ones who have wandered off, since  _ somebody  _ lost them.” Percy considered. “But I can spare a few seconds for a hug.”

“Lies and slander.” Luke hissed as Percy acquiesced to his father’s request. “I didn’t lose anyone, they left of their own volition.”

“Well, maybe you should have stopped them.” Percy informed him, despite having his chin hooked over Poseidon’s shoulder and not even looking at Luke.

“Let me have my hug and then you can go back to bickering with Mr. Castellan.” Poseidon rumbled, chest vibrating with laughter.

“I can multitask.” Percy put in a token protest before shutting up and letting his dad hug him. When he stepped away, he scanned the room and tried to figure out who was missing.

“Travis and Connor said they’d be back in five.” Clarisse informed him from where she was lounging in one of the chairs, feet folded on the table. “And we saw them go through the door if you’re worried about them running amok in your Cabin.”

“I’m more concerned about where Leo and Ignis are.” Percy realised that the duo were suspiciously absent.

“Iggy said something about a dragon?” Silena piped up from where she was sitting on the table beside Clarisse’s feet.

“Festus.” Percy realised with a groan.

“Do you want to go and round up the missing demigods and then we’ll discuss your Quest?” Hades suggested dryly. “Or do you want to talk about it and inform them later?”

“Honestly, I think we need to find Leo and Ignis before we hear an explosion.” Percy sighed. “Silena, come and help me track them down?”

“I’m coming too.” Clarisse informed him, eyes narrowing at him.

“By all means,” Percy nodded. He scanned the room, looking for one person in particular. “Piper!” He called, gaining the girl’s attention. “Come and help us find Leo? I need someone who can persuade him to come back and you know him well.”

“Okay.” Piper acquiesced, standing and flicking one of the thin braids in her hair over her shoulder. Her eyes caught the light with the movement, flashing blue. Percy sighed. This wasn’t going to be fun.

“Need more company?” Nico asked lowly.

“I’ll be alright with Silena and Clarisse.” Percy shook his head, patting Nico’s arm gently. “Stay here and talk to Solis and your dad.”

“We’ll check the woods first.” Percy decided once Piper, Clarisse and Silena had woven their way through the remaining demigods. “It’s the most likely place.”

“Lead the way.” Clarisse gestured, lips twitching with amusement. He was torn, part of him wanting to know what she found amusing. The other part was too afraid to ask.

“I’ll take my dad and Solis and we’ll round up whoever else is missing.” Nico caught his arm as he was about to leave.

“Thanks Nic.” Percy gave him a soft smile. “You okay?”

“Go.” Nico gently shoved “I’m still processing. I’ll be fine. Just go find Leo.”

“So that was a touching little scene between you and di Angelo.” Clarisse commented once they were out of the Cabin and heading towards the woods, on the same path that Luke and Percy took earlier to chase down Octavian. Percy couldn’t believe how much had happened in just a few hours.

“I had to break some bad news to him before.” Percy responded.

“You do realise that we all think you’re sleeping together, right?” Clarisse snorted.

Percy tripped over a tree root. “ _ What _ ?”

“You and di Angelo. Crossing Master Bolts. Wrestling like the sea and the shoreline. Getting down and dirty grave digging. Exchanging strategies. Sharing weapons.” Clarisse listed off various euphemisms. 

“I understood you the first time.” Percy interrupted before she could think of any more. “Even though I wish I didn’t.”

“You’re not answering the question.” Clarisse informed him. “Are you or are you not nocking arrows with di Angelo? Because if you are…” The daughter of Ares cracked her knuckles and gave him a threatening grin. “Upset him and you’re dead.”

“I’m not sleeping with Nico!” Percy protested swiftly. “He’s basically my baby brother, I would never.”

“Huh.” Clarisse nodded. “So, you’re wriggling around like George and Martha with Castellan then?”

“ _ What _ ?” Percy tripped over a tree root. Again.

“Clarisse.” Silena chided.

“He’s easy to wind up, sue me.” Clarisse shrugged.

“Luke is an obvious choice to tease him about, that is all I am saying.” Silena laughed, clear as a bell. “Be a little more creative with your suggestions of love affairs.”

“What are your thoughts on our fearless leader then?” Clarisse asked. “The oh so glorious Nathan, son of Burns, first of his name.”

Percy cackled. “Oh damn.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes before speaking with extreme sarcasm in his tone. “Words can’t describe the man, the myth, the legend.”

“Well, no words other than fuck ugly.” Clarisse’s voice was completely dry. 

“Nathan isn’t half bad.” Piper interjected.

“Wow.” Percy looked at her. “You really are possessed, aren’t you?”

Her eyes flashed blue and she recoiled, hissing. “You just had to come along and ruin it, didn’t you?” The voice that came out of her mouth was unearthly and strange.

“ _ Get out of her body, get out of this camp, and do not inhabit the body of a demigod ever again. _ ” Silena spoke, voice commanding. 

It always surprised Percy when Silena used Charmspeak, since she used it so rarely. The only time he’d ever seen her use it before her untimely death was when Festus went berserk when he’d been activated the first time. He’d asked her about it when Festus had come up in conversation between the two of them and Beckendorf and she had just shrugged, simply stating it wasn’t a power she was comfortable with and others knowing that she had. She couldn’t hide her ability to shift her appearance – an absolute godsend on some missions – since it was an intrinsic part of her and it was second nature to change her hair colour or her eye colour to match an outfit, but she had control over who knew she could Charmspeak. And she’d said that she was glad Luke had never found out during his time in Camp, fearing that if the knowledge had been acquired by Kronos when inhabiting his body, he would have insisted that Silena play a more active role in recruiting instead of silently passing on (mostly incorrect) information.

A dark wisp of smoke shot out of Piper’s body and gave them the smoky equivalent of a middle finger before departing, shooting deep into the woods.

“Oh thank the gods.” Piper stumbled, Percy darting to catch her before she fell.

“Are you alright?” He asked, steadying her.

“Bastard Eidolon,” Piper cursed. “It knew I would have been able to Charmspeak it out of anyone else so it decided to possess me, I’ve been riding backseat in my own body for weeks.”

“Good thing he brought me along then.” Silena cut in before Percy could say anything as he stepped back to give Piper some space now that she was steady on her feet. “Otherwise Blue would owe Drew one and nobody wants to be in that debt.”

“You’re Silena!” Piper’s expression was akin to that of someone meeting their favourite star, sheer delight lighting up her eyes that had returned to their usual kaleidoscope of colour, changing instead of being settled on an unnerving blue. “Drew hates me almost as much as she hates you.”

“Good to know nothing has changed.” Silena laughed. “It’s nice to meet the non-possessed version of you.”

“I hate to interrupt the introductions, but can you remember if the Eidolon made you do anything or what it planned to make you do?” Percy felt bad, he knew that Silena had looked forward to meeting Piper and Piper had always said she wished she could have met Silena, but he had to prioritise any damage the spirit may have caused.

“It didn’t do anything much, I think it was just acting as a spy of sorts. It wanted to kill you but was waiting for something to happen, I can’t really remember what.” Piper shook her. “It wasn’t happy about Nathan leaving, but it was happy when you picked me for the Quest. Other than that I can’t think of-” she gasped suddenly, covering her mouth. “It broke up with Jason!”

“I think he’d be happy with the excuse ‘a vengeful spirit possessed me and broke up with you’, don’t worry about it girl.” Silena winked. “Makes sense really, cut off the guy who would notice a change in your actions.”

“He said he’d noticed you’d been acting off.” Percy nodded. “He’ll understand.”

“I feel horrible!” Piper groaned.

“We just need to find Ignis and Leo and then we can head back.” Percy informed her in an attempt to provide comfort. “You’ll be able to explain in no time!”

“No need to worry about finding them,” Clarisse spoke up cheerily. “I’ve already found them.”

  
  



	35. Octavian: 'Ogre' of Camp Jupiter.

Through the treeline, Percy could make out a small clearing and the limestone cliff-face that made up the entrance to Bunker 9. 

He could also make out the pair of idiots who were setting things on fire.

“Tell me you’ve learned how to extinguish a forest fire in the time I’ve been gone?” Percy strode through the trees and into sight, causing Leo to yelp and nearly drop the flaming sword that was in his hand. “I am not having any of the nymphs chase me through the forest  _ again _ because of a fire you accidentally set, Leo.”

He remembered the not so fond memory with ease, trying to stop himself from laughing at it now. Juniper had chased him through the trees when he’d been wandering in search of Grover, yelling at him and alleging that Leo was his responsibility when meddling with fire because Percy was literally a human fire-extinguisher when there was water to hand. It wasn’t until later in the day, when he’d finally located the literal Human Torch, that Leo had sheepishly explained that he may have  _ accidentally  _ widened the clearing around Bunker Nine’s entrance and pissed off a lot of nymphs in the process. Percy had narrowly escaped having to escort Leo out to the Bunker each time he wanted to make the trip by persuading the son of Hephaestus to replant some of the damaged foliage.

“Oh neat, nice sword.” Clarisse was no aid to Percy’s attempt to appear disapproving, barging past so she could get a better look at the weapon.

Leo extinguished the blade when Percy didn’t shift his glare and looked slightly sheepish.

“If you’re going to set things on fire, at least invite me along so I can put out any accidental fires you start so the nymphs don’t come baying for your blood,  _ again _ .” Percy sighed. “Or Grover, you know that Grover would eat you like a tin can if he found out Juniper was pissed off with you.”

Grover  _ had _ threatened to eat Leo like a tin can when he’d found out what had happened.

“We were bored waiting for Festus to come back.” Leo shrugged, hastily moving on. “He always goes to steal a sheep or two in the afternoon, he usually arrives back at this time.”

“He lives off motor oil and tabasco sauce?” Percy frowned, remembering the piece of trivia easily. It was hard  _ not  _ to remember what a giant bronze dragon ate; they weren’t exactly a commodity.

“I think he’s trying to make friends with Peleus, he offers them to him.” Leo shrugged. “If Peleus doesn’t want them, he takes them back. He’s either trying to make friends with him or trying to court him and I don’t think I’m ready to have the gaskets and the gears talk with my dragon child yet, so I’m really hoping it’s the former.”

“That dragon is as weird as you are.” Piper snorted, shaking her head. 

Leo looked at her with uncertainty. “Are you talking to me now or are you still pissed off I’m also friends with Jason? Because that’s not been cool, Beauty Queen.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Piper winced.

“She was possessed.” Percy informed him. “Also, can you bring Ignis back to meet Festus later? The Big Three have rocked up and they want to discuss the Quest. We think it’s just going to be a basic blessing and a chat about who’s going, but we still need you there.”

“Sorry, did you just say  _ she was possessed _ ?” Leo spluttered. “You can’t just spring something like that on a guy and then continue as if you only told him what you had for breakfast!”

“Keep up with the facts, Leo.” Percy managed to keep a straight face before Clarisse’s muffled laughs got to him too.

“It was an eidolon. Obviously not one of the ones that chased us across Europe, but it was still an eidolon.” Piper took pity on Leo’s helpless repeated use of ‘What?’ and answered him. “It didn’t get me to do much other than break up with Jason and refuse to speak to you, but it wanted to murder Blue. Thankfully he clocked there was something up and Silena used charmspeak to banish it.”

“Well shit, Beauty Queen, that explains a lot.” Leo whistled.

“And it wasn’t even the weirdest thing I found out today.” Percy shuddered, thinking of everything that had happened since they’d heard people start to emerge from their Cabins that morning. 

“Sorry Pipes, you should have waited a day or two before the eidolon in possession of your body screwed up and made itself known.” Leo cackled. “I don’t know what outshines it more, the fact Octavian is alive, the fact that Octavian and Nathan ran away together, or the fact that Octavian and Nathan are  _ together. _ ”

“Or the reveal that this punk brought Silena, Beckendorf, Castor, probably a bunch of others, and  _ Luke  _ back from the dead.” Clarisse lightly punched Percy’s arm.

“Errr..” Beckendorf did a double take, reaching up to check his mask was still in place.

“You’re holding Silena’s hand.” Clarisse deadpanned. “And of course Percy would have brought you back together, he’s a sentimental little punk, aren’t you Jackson?”

It was punctuated with another punch to the arm, this one a little harder. Then it registered that Clarisse had just called him by name, and not by the one that Camp knew the masked version of him as.

“How long have you had me figured out, La Rue?” Percy sighed, somehow not even surprised once it had sunken in enough. She’d always been frighteningly observant.

“Since that first Counsellors meeting when we realised that di Angelo knew who you were.” Clarisse shrugged. “I had prior suspicions, mainly because you rocked up calling yourself ‘Blue’ of all things and then you got claimed in that creek.”

“We all know how I ended up in that creek the first time.” Percy pointed out with a laugh. It was easy to laugh now, despite the fact he’d pretty much feared for his life during his first ever game of Capture the Flag. “How many electric spears have you gone through since then?”

“Can we just circle back to the fact that apparently you’re Percy?” Piper asked, eyes lighting up. It was abundantly clear that she was holding herself back, awaiting confirmation before she did anything rash. “Leo, where’s your outrage?”

“I knew.” Leo shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes as he made the admission. “The idiot was wandering around without his mask having clandestine meetings with Jason after dark.”

“Leo!” Percy groaned. “Can you make that sound any  _ more _ like you caught me and Jason kissing?”

“Yes.” Leo said solemnly, turning to Piper. “Sorry Beauty Queen, I found Percy and Jason kissing on the bench outside Zeus’ Cabin.”

“I don’t know why we’re friends.” Percy groaned.

“You don’t need to worry about other people knowing.” Clarisse punched his arm  _ again _ . “And by people, I mean Annabeth. Not just Annabeth, I floated the idea with a bunch of people and the majority were pissed off with me for suggesting it. Others vehemently denied the possibility, insisting you were dead. Some people just looked at me, shook their heads and walked off. Honestly, I think if we stuck a pair of glasses on you, slicked your hair back, and called you Clark Kent, people would believe it. I never understood how the basic disguises like domino masks, sunglasses, and baseball caps actually worked to hide identities, but our campmates seem thicker than originally imagined.”

“Do you have to keep punching me?” Percy asked, not really caring about much else as he rubbed the spot on his arm that she  _ kept  _ punching. “I’m going to bruise!”

“Stop your whining and just dip your arm in the sea if you do.” Clarisse rolled her eyes. “Also, I think you should hug Piper before she starts crying or something, because I think she’s about to.”

“Sorry Pipes, Clarisse was punching me.” Percy huffed, opening his arms to offer her a hug. He promptly had the wind knocked out of him as she ran into him, squeezing out the last breath he had in him. “I do need to breathe,” he choked out.

“You can breathe when I’ve finished hugging you.” Piper informed him, but did loosen her grip slightly. “Oh gods, it seems so obvious now my head is clear and Clarisse has pointed out the facts.”

“Emotional reunions aside, I thought you wanted to get back to that meeting?” Clarisse asked, punching his other arm as Piper released him.

“Again with the punching!” Percy yelped.

“Come on, you have to let me have some outlet for being pissed you left us with Nathan.” Clarisse teased. “And I know from your little display with Kronos and his Legion, I won’t be able to whoop your ass in a swordfight like I used to. Little shit, who gave you the right to get so good?”

“You don’t have to punch me every time you think there’s something that needs my attention drawn to it. Yeah, we’ll head back now, if everyone is happy with that?” He aimed first at Clarisse and then the group.

“Lead the way, Glorious Leader.” Clarisse grinned toothily.

Percy rolled his eyes but did exactly that.

“Everyone here?” Percy asked once they had all filed into the room to see more people than when he had left, thankfully.

“Everyone is here.” Luke confirmed. “We miss anything interesting?”

“Other than dispelling the eidolon that was possessing Piper, nothing much happened.” Percy shrugged. “We found Leo and Ignis pretty easily. We just listened for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that. Leo was lighting weapons on fire too close to the treeline, something which he promised never to do without a human fire hydrant present.”

“I swear you and I need to have a proper discussion about the definition of the word  _ interesting _ .” Luke shook his head. “You’re a menace.”

“Pipes was possessed?” Jason had shot to his feet.

“Jason!” Piper yelped. She looked apologetic, unsure what to do.

“You were possessed?” Jason repeated, directing the question at her.

She nodded, running across the room into arms that were opened the minute the son of Jupiter realised she was moving. “I’m sorry,” She uttered, words muffled by his shoulder. “I wouldn’t have broken up with you if it wasn’t for the eidolon.”

“Are you alright, Miss McLean?” Zeus asked, awkward concern for the girl his son loved in his tone.

“All fine now, thanks to Blue.” Piper nodded as she turned to answer him directly.

“I suppose the boy has some uses,” Zeus sniffed, looking slightly pained to admit that Percy’s presence was a good thing. Percy couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him.

“Should we perhaps get this over with before you come to blows with a demigod?” Hades suggested with a quirk of a smile. “Or, my apologies for forgetting, brother, a demigod and his father who would no doubt step in to protect him.”

Poseidon grinned.

“Yes, please can we get this over with?” Percy asked. “Some of us haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours and it has been a very stressful twenty-four hours at that.”

“There’s still plenty that must be done before you depart as well.” Poseidon pointed out.

Percy groaned. “Please don’t remind me.”

“Naturally we’ll make one thing easier by informing you that we are blessing your quest.” Poseidon continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And we will try and help where we can, but we mustn’t interfere  _ too  _ much, otherwise Zeus will start to get antsy.”

“I will not.” Zeus scowled.

“Brother dearest, you have commonly expressed fear that if you help demigods too much, you will come out in hives. Or worse...” Poseidon stopped for dramatic effect. “… _ grow a heart _ .”

“Mother Rhea, why did you curse me with these siblings?” Zeus groaned.

Percy could hear Apollo snickering beside Nico, obviously taking pleasure in watching his father bicker with his uncles like they were a bunch of teenage demigods.

“Stop complaining about us and tell the children what we came here to tell them.” Hades rolled his eyes. “Some of us don’t spend their days lounging on their thrones doing little more than gossip with the other gods, some of us have kingdoms to run.”

“Yeah Zeus, some of us have kingdoms to run.” Poseidon took the opportunity to help Hades gang up on Zeus.

“I do a lot more than sit and gossip all day.” Zeus scowled.

There was a barely audible snort of ‘yeah right’ from Apollo that caught the attention of the three brothers, Zeus rolling his eyes when he identified the culprit while the other two grinned in solidarity.

“Zeus, just get on with it.” Hades sighed.

“I have agreed to not strike you from the air if your Quest calls for the need of air travel.” Zeus sniffed, looking down his nose at the room of demigods.

“Gee, thanks dad.” Thalia snorted. “Blue gets cuddles from Poseidon and me and Jason get ‘I suppose I won’t kill you in a plane crash because I was pissed off Poseidon’s kid and Hades’ kid got on the flight too’, really feeling the love.”

“Why do you think I agreed to it?” Zeus raised an eyebrow.

“I was hoping out of the goodness of your heart and the desire to keep the peace with the parents of all the other demigods that would hypothetically be on the plane as well?” Thalia raised  _ her  _ eyebrow and folded her arms pointedly.

“Like I said earlier, Zeus doesn’t want to help too much out of fear he’d  _ grow _ a heart as a consequence.” Poseidon relished the opportunity that had re-arisen.

“We’ll be trying to retrace Nathan’s steps as best we can and I doubt he’ll be rushing to get on a plane anytime soon.” Percy tried to placate. 

“You’ll risk venturing into the Labyrinth then?” Hades looked surprised.

“Not if we can help it.” Percy assured him. “I wouldn’t want to risk a group of twelve down in the Labyrinth. Nathan may be able to traverse a short distance down there but I don’t know if he’d want to risk Octavian’s life with whatever might be down there with the lengths he went to when bringing him back.”

“What do you mean by that?” Thalia raised an eyebrow.

“Mean by what?” Percy countered, realising that he’d slipped up.

“What lengths did Nathan go to?” Jason frowned. “I thought we didn’t know how he’d brought him back?”

Percy glanced at Nico and Apollo for guidance, not wanting to say something that they weren’t comfortable with.

“Maybe we should all sit down.” Nico suggested, voice quiet.

Everyone could tell from his tone that it wasn’t something to argue over, all dropping into chairs and arranging themselves around the room so they could all see Percy and Nico, who had grabbed him and dragged him over to the same chairs that they’d occupied during the meeting earlier, and the meeting wherein Nico had revealed his temporary change in allegiance after Jason had questioned his absence. Percy half wanted to ask Leo to take the chairs out back and use them as firewood, wanting to blame the inanimate objects for the sticky situations he always seemed he had to talk himself out of while sitting there, instead of wanting to just straight up admit that trouble followed him wherever he went.

Zeus, Poseidon and Hades lingered near the doorway, the latter looking worried about his son.

“We really did just pop in to say we were blessing your Quest.” Poseidon informed them before anyone could prompt Percy or Nico to start answering questions. “And to tell you that we’ll aid you in whatever ways we can – we want to see Nathan and Octavian in custody just as much as you do.”

“Some of us more than others.” Hades stated darkly. “When you catch them, Octavian is being returned to the Underworld by my hand.”

“Brother, you know that the legalities around returned souls are shady.” Poseidon winced.

“You’ll let me have him when I tell you exactly how Mr Burns acquired Octavian’s soul.” Hades looked downright dangerous and he herded his brothers from the room. “Let’s go to dinner, we need to chat and I want something to stab at with a knife. May I suggest Italy?”

“Good luck!” Poseidon waved over Hades’ shoulder before the door closed after them and the flash of gold that snuck through the gaps between door and doorframe signalled their departure.

“So what do you two and Hades know about Octavian’s resurrection that the rest of us don’t?” Luke asked from where he was sitting between Thalia and Annabeth.

In a less delicate scenario, Percy would have jokingly mouthed ‘traitor’ at him for abandoning him, but there was no atmosphere for jokes in the room.

“Blue?” Nico’s voice broke slightly. “I don’t think I can explain it.”

Percy took a deep breath and nodded, knowing that this would be very difficult to explain to a room where nearly everyone in its walls knew Will Solace. The only exceptions were Bellerophon and Patroclus, but even they knew him by reputation from stories that Lee and Michael had told of their siblings. Zoë had met him from visits to camp and Percy could only assume Reyna knew him due to the fact she and Nico were friends, so no doubt she would have met him once or twice. And now he was faced with having to tell them all that Will’s death was not accidental.

“I want to start by making it clear that I only learnt this earlier today, a short time before Hades and I appeared in the Amphitheatre asking where Octavian was.” Percy began, not quite knowing how to explain it. There was bound to be interruptions and requests for clarification from such a large group, but it was information that deserved to be known. He looked at Lee and Michael who were sat close to a completely oblivious Kayla and knew that the three of them needed to know. “And it’s shocking, to the point I was physically sick afterwards.”

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t think we need to hear it.” Kayla was the one who spoke, sympathy flashing in her eyes.

“You all deserve to know.” Percy stated firmly, Nico nodding beside him. He could see Apollo holding Nico’s hand comfortingly beneath the table out of the corner of his eye and he reached out to do the same. Nico gave him a weak smile in thanks, gripping at his hand as if it was a lifeline. “I just beg you to be careful with who you share the information with and please show some restraint with how you treat Nathan’s friends, we don’t yet know which ones were involved and which ones actually know the circumstances of Octavian’s resurrection.”

“Can you give us a little context about Octavian?” Travis asked.

“A lot of us only know him as the Roman whacko who accidentally turned himself into a fireball.” Connor nodded along with his brother. “And something to do with gutting Percy’s panda pillow pet?”

“He was the Augur.” Reyna stepped in to explain.

“What’s an Ogre?” Travis asked.

Reyna quirked a smile before answering. “He was a Legacy of Apollo, his family had been attending Camp Jupiter for a century. Certain gifts can pop up in Legacies and Octavian claimed to have the gift of Prophecy, so he held the position of Augur. The Augur is charged with studying and interpreting omens to predict future events, which Octavian did by performing haruspication.”

“What in the name of Apollo’s sweaty quiver is  _ haruspication _ ?” Travis asked, completely mangling the pronunciation and insulting the god in the room without being aware of his presence.

“Basically he looked at the entrails of animals and tried to divine answers from them.” Reyna gave the short answer.

“You let him kill things to read their entrails?” Katie looked disgusted.

“And you wonder why he went psycho?” Travis whistled. “Perfect fit for Nathan it sounds like.”

“We didn’t let him slaughter Thumper and Bambi, don’t worry.” Reyna shook her head. “He studied the ‘entrails’ of stuffed animals. Like Percy’s pillow pet.”

“To me, that sounds like a murderer in the making,” Connor whistled. “None of you found it a little weird?”

“Oh it was plenty weird,” Nico intoned darkly. “And he was a murderer in the making.”

“He would have succeeded too, if Thanatos wasn’t bound and chained.” Frank piped up.

“What?” Kayla’s eyes went wide.

“We play War Games,” Reyna started to explain. “One of which is in the same vein of Capture the Flag-”

“Percy compared them when we played, referring to Capture the Flag as one of his favourite games. He didn’t have a clue what he was going on about, the thought was a random one, but he helped us win that night,” Hazel cut in, her voice fond at the memory.

“After the game, after Percy had beat him, we think Octavian was the one who stabbed one of the Fifth Cohort in the back,” Reyna continued.

“Think?” Frank snorted. “He was standing behind Gwen. Next thing we knew, there was a _ pilum _ in Gwen’s back and he was the only one who didn't have one.”

“We couldn’t prove it though,” Reyna sighed and shook her head. It was a debate that had gone on for years.

“When Reyna came to meet us, Octavian’s position as Augur meant he became the defacto leader of Camp Jupiter because both Praetors were absent; murder suspect or not.” Jason jumped in to assist. “So he gave the orders to invade Camp Half-Blood.”

“Oh gods.” Nico said suddenly, his grip on Percy’s hand going slack. He turned to him instantly, panicking when he realised that Nico had turned ashen.

“Neeks?” Percy didn’t know what was wrong; endless possibilities running through his mind as he tried to figure out what could have been said in the last few minutes that had disturbed him so much.

“Blue, it’s my fault.” Nico looked at him with wide eyes.

“What?” Percy frowned, all thoughts crashing to a halt.

“Octavian died because Will and I didn’t stop him from firing that onager, we saw his cloak was caught in it and we didn’t tell him.” Nico rushed out. His hand was shaking in Percy’s hold and Percy realised exactly where his line of thought was headed.

“Nico, no.” Percy shook his head, trying to soothe him. “I know where you’re going with this and  _ no _ . It wasn’t your fault, you had no idea.”

“No idea about what?” Jason asked softly.

“Solis, take Nico upstairs?” Percy suggested softly.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Nico’s grip tightened again.

“You’re okay hearing this?” Percy asked.

“No.” Nico shook his head. “Just get it over with.”

Percy winced but knew he’d been delaying it for too long. “Nathan…” He paused for a moment to collect himself and continue. “Nathan knew Octavian before Octavian died. They were pen pals, according to the diary I found in the Poseidon Cabin and read part of earlier today. He wanted to bring Octavian back and found a ritual to do it.”

“Surely if all it took was a ritual, people would be bringing back loved ones all the time?” Annabeth frowned.

“What did the ritual require?” Luke asked softly. He had an expression of dread on his face and Percy had to wonder for a moment if Luke had seen the ritual before, from when he was Kronos.

“To bring Octavian back, Nathan had to offer a soul of a blood relation in exchange.” Percy admitted. He continued quickly, before anyone could interrupt. “Nathan brought Octavian back the night of the full moon in July, nearly four years ago, using the soul of the son of Apollo that he and his friends had intentionally caused the death of as a trade.”

Silent tears were running down Nico’s face again as a horrified silence settled in the room. It seemed as though somebody had pressed the slow-motion button, everyone’s reactions suspended until the information had sunk in.

“Nathan is truly responsible for Will’s death?” Kayla choked out as her eyes filled with tears, frantically flicking between Percy for confirmation and Nico out of concern.

“He is.” Percy confirmed grimly.

“Zeus above.” Travis whispered.

“If you don’t let Nico cut him to pieces, I call dibs.” Clarisse was seething, face flushed and angry.

“There’s more.” Percy held up his free hand.

“How can it get worse?” Silena asked, hand covering her mouth to hold back a sob.

“Not worse.” Percy assured them. “Nathan also wrote that the Fates are in possession of Will’s soul and that if we can take Octavian to them, they’ll release Will back to the land of the living. Hopefully.”

“What in the name of Neptune’s barnacles are we waiting for then?” Jason asked, darting to his feet. Percy was relieved that he didn’t pick up on the last word he’d tacked on, not sure whether or not he could explain that they didn’t know if Nathan’s information was correct.

“We can’t be hasty.” Percy stated with regret, ignoring the stunned looks that the words garnered. “We can’t just run after them.”

“Jay, sit down.” Nico grimaced, speaking with extreme reluctance. “Blue’s right. We need a prophecy, we need to have dinner and by the gods we need to sleep.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice that did not belong to anyone seated rang out, “I believe I can help with the Prophecy part.”

  
  



	36. The Prophecy.

Rachel stood in the doorway, a smile unsteady on her face. She’d clearly overheard the revelation and was trying to present an unflappable visage as she lingered there, nervously tugging at her ginger curls with one hand and twirling a paintbrush in the fingers of her other one.

“Rachel.” Percy greeted before he could stop himself.

Rachel’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth. Percy panicked, fully convinced that she was about to yell at him and suddenly he was glad that it was only a paintbrush in her hand, not a certain blue hairbrush that he was certain would be making contact with his face if it was to hand. Instead, her hands went slack, the paintbrush dropping to the floor and the other dropping to her side. Her eyes glowed green, smoke billowing from her open mouth.

**_A soul returned to revive a love taken,_ **

**_Within the Maze’s depths of darkness, the lover's voice will reawaken._ **

**_Sunlight bright will break the haze,_ **

**_Deal struck in Moirai’s cave,_ **

**_On familiar shores will fall the blaze._ **

**_Question lies with Hades’ son who to save._ **

**_In the hands of the four rests Olympus’ fate._ **

Rachel gasped as she returned to herself, staggering slightly. Leo was the closest to her, darting up and guiding her to sit in his vacated seat before taking himself off to sit on Jason’s knee, ignoring Jason’s grumbling due to the fact he’d had to let go of Piper’s hand in order to stop Leo from falling straight to the floor.

“Are you alright?” Percy asked, trying to commit the prophecy she had just given to memory. Certain lines were standing out to him more than others and he sincerely hoped that the rest of the people in the room would be able to build an accurate retelling between them.

Luke stood, fetching a notebook from one of the bookshelves that lined one of the walls. Once he’d acquired a pen, he sat down again and thankfully started to scribble down what they had just heard, Thalia and Annabeth leaning in to point out mistakes and whisper corrections.

“That’s never not going to be a pain in the ass.” Rachel groaned, rubbing at her head. “Always gives me the heebie jeebies, even when I know it’s coming.”

“Sorry.” Percy felt compelled to apologise, wincing as the word left his mouth.

“It’s chill, just don’t ask me to give you another one.” Rachel waved a hand. “Give me a few hours at least for the ‘mystic energies’ to recharge. Unfortunately I don’t work like an arcade fortune teller, you can’t just stick another coin in me for a new one.”

“Don’t worry, we only need the one.” Percy assured her, unable to stop the small smile that was crawling onto his face. He’d missed Rachel.

“So you’re ‘Blue’, huh?” Rachel arched a brow at him. She was staring at him, an unimpressed look on her face. 

“That would be me.” Percy nodded, knowing that Rachel had known who he was from the moment she had walked into the room. The raised brow she was sporting seemed to be asking ‘seriously’ as she eyed the mask and cloak that he was wearing. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt stupid wearing the get-up - and it certainly wouldn’t be the last - but he was well aware that Rachel would roast him for eternity the minute she was able to.

“Cool beans.” She acknowledged. “So what did I say?”

Luke frisbeed the notebook down the table on cue, the Prophecy that Rachel had just issued neatly written out in Luke’s familiar handwriting. It seemed he’d ripped out the page with his first attempt after having to cross out and replace words at the instruction of Annabeth and Thalia. Rachel picked it up to study it, eyes narrowing as she read and re-read certain lines.

“Who’s going on your Quest then?” She finally asked, sliding it across to Percy. He glanced at it, trying to read the first line but gave up when his brain decided to commit mutiny. Apparently he’d reached maximum capacity of what he could read without too much trouble from his dyslexia, his tired eyes only reading a jumble of letters and words that were shifting in order to make the Prophecy make even less sense than it usually would.

“Dammit,” He whispered softly, ignoring her question.

“Struggling to read it?” She asked, her voice gentle. It took him back to the days that they’d attended Goode together and she’d say the same thing as he tried to get through reading assignments and textbooks. He’d always deny it before handing the book over moments later with a sheepish expression and she’d roll her eyes and spend the rest of the evening reading everything aloud for him.

“It’s been a long day,” Percy admitted. He wanted to rub at his eyes but knew that doing so would dislodge his mask. “A  _ very  _ long day.”

“Want me to read it out for you?” Rachel offered, just as she always would.

He didn’t bother with the song and dance of denying needing her help, nodding tiredly to signal that he wanted to hear it again.

**_“A soul returned to revive a love taken,_ **

**_Within the Maze’s depths of darkness, the lover's voice will reawaken._ **

**_Sunlight bright will break the haze,_ **

**_Deal struck in Moirai’s cave,_ **

**_On familiar shores will fall the blaze._ **

**_Question lies with Hades’ son who to save._ **

**_In the hands of the four rests Olympus’ fate.”_ ** Rachel recited, only half reading it from the page.

“I don’t want to start making assumptions about what I think it means.” Percy shook his head. “I know what Prophecies are like. We’ll think it means one thing, when in reality, it’ll mean something completely different.”

“Who are you taking, Wise Guy?” Rachel asked. He knew that the nickname was an intentional choice, picked to get on his nerves. He didn’t rise to the bait. “You didn’t answer the question the first time around. I’m still curious.”

“Myself,”

“No shit.” Rachel snorted before he could even say a second word.

“Myself,” he repeated, ignoring her, “Neeks, Luke, Solis, Leo, Thalia, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, and I need to track down Grover and ask him to make twelve.”

“I can tell you now that he’ll say no.” Rachel shook her head, dashing his plans. “Summer is a busy time for him as Lord of the Wild and I guarantee Juniper won’t like the idea of him haring off for an unspecified length of time.”

Percy tried not to let his disappointment show in his voice, but he knew Rachel was right. It was going to be a big ask anyway; he knew from the first time around how much Grover had hated the Labyrinth and the direct mention of the Maze suggested they’d have to make at least one trip below the surface. He just hoped it was a short one. “Plan B then.”

“Plan B?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell me that we  _ had  _ a Plan B.”

“Of course we have a Plan B,” Percy lied. Plan B was being made up on the spot. He had other plans, plans that were wilder and wouldn’t work out, but he needed something simple to suggest then and there.

“Do we have a Plan B or are you just stalling until you can think of one?” Thalia asked, snorting.

“Bells, Aurum, who’s coming?” Percy twisted in his seat to where he knew the two were lurking in the corner. He didn’t really want to split them up, knowing that Patroclus had been clinging to Bellerophon like a safety blanket with Achilles’ absence, but he liked the idea of eleven instead of twelve even less. At least twelve was a multiple of three - the usual number that went on a Quest.

“You want to split me and my Precious?” Bellerophon asked, looping his arms around Patroclus dramatically. “Seriously? You’d do that to us?”

“You didn’t know what a meme was like yesterday, how have you found the time to watch Lord of the Rings?” Luke snorted.

“Blue made us watch them.” Bellerophon reminded him with a laugh. “After that mission we went on where the Royal Family worshipped a ring and none of us understood all of the references he tried and failed to make.”

“I won’t lie to you, I normally fell asleep on movie nights when we let Blue pick the film.” Luke grimaced.

“Don’t we all?” Patroclus responded dryly.

“I hate you all.” Percy huffed. “At least I don’t pick rom-coms.”

Luke narrowed his eyes at him, knowing it was him that Percy was aiming the dig at. “Hey!”

“You cried at Mamma Mia!” Percy reminded him. “Twice!”

“And you cried at the Princess Bride, you don’t have a leg to stand on.” Bellerophon took Luke’s side.

“I hate you all,” Percy repeated.

“Am I included in that group now?” Nico asked quietly, offering Percy a small smile.

“I hate you all apart from Nico.” Percy amended swiftly. “Nico, you’re a pleasure and we’re lucky to have you.”

“I’d hate to see you making a decision under pressure.” Rachel snorted, grinning at them. “Do you often go off on tangents?”

“Happens more often than you’d think,” Luke informed her dryly.

“Oh shit, I’ve just realised why I recognise you.” Rachel’s eyes widened. “I don’t think we ever got to meet properly while you were all possessed, I just know I threw a hairbrush at you.”

“I remember that.” Luke nodded, rubbing at his forehead.

“You threw a hairbrush at the King of the Titans?” Bellerophon asked gleefully, eyes flashing with delight.

“It was blue.” Rachel grinned at the memory.

“I think I love you,” Bellerophon declared. “Do you still have said hairbrush? I’d like to throw it at Luke when he's getting on my nerves.”

“You’re one to talk about getting on people’s nerves.” Luke rolled his eyes, though there was fondness in his tone.

“I threw it at the King of the Titans, I didn’t stick around to grab it.” Rachel shook her head. “Percy was the impulsive one on that trip. I won’t lie to you and say that I don’t know what happened to it though; Apollo nipped down there and found it when the Labyrinth was resurrected, he keeps it mounted above his fireplace at his place on Olympus.”

“Now you’re the one going off on a tangent.” Annabeth smiled at her. Seeing them interact in a friendly manner made Percy glad – he knew that they hadn’t liked each other on principle for a while, so it was good to see that it was behind them.

“Oh gods, I am.” Rachel groaned. “Smurf, you were trying to get those two to pick between themselves, right?”

“Smurf?” Percy repeated, disbelief colouring his tone slightly.

“Smurfs are blue.” Rachel shot back. “Would you prefer something else like Stitch, Eeyore, or Sonic?”

“I like Smurf.” Apollo piped up.

“No.” Percy glared at him. “I’ll revoke your sea-themed nickname privileges if you call me Smurf. I’m beginning to like Seashell.”

“Can I get you to repeat that if I go get my phone so I can record it, Starfish?” Apollo asked. “I left it in your room.”

“I swear you’re easier to distract than Leo,” Rachel informed him, looking mystified. “And I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Someone said my name?” Leo looked up from the friendship bracelet he was braiding around Jason’s wrist, the son of Jupiter sitting there patiently suspending his wrist and looking resigned to his fate.

“It’s okay Leo, ignore the mean Oracle.” Percy gestured for him to continue. “She’s just jealous that you aren’t making her a bracelet.”

“The mean Oracle is trying to help you make a decision.” Rachel folded her arms. “You need to pick someone else to go on your Quest if you’re so set on twelve.”

“Bells, Goldie, help me out here?” Percy twisted to look at them.

They were squabbling quietly, a mixture of furious whispering and hand gestures. At the sound of their names, they looked up at Percy.

“Can’t you take Zoë?” Bellerophon pouted.

“Thalia’s condition for agreeing to go was that Zoë and Bia look after the Hunters.” Percy reminded them. “If Zoë comes, Thalia won’t and then we still won’t have twelve.”

“Can’t Bia look after them by herself?” Bellerophon argued.

“How about Silena?” Patroclus suggested.

“Clarisse would kill me and Ignis would set something on fire at least once a day until we returned.” Percy pointed out dryly. “I don’t want to be responsible for Camp’s destruction after its residents have all worked so hard to save it multiple times.”

“How about Medicus?” Bellerophon asked, a slight whine to his voice as he continued to suggest names of their compatriots. “Or Sagitta?”

“Do you think I’d subject them to Solis’ company?” Percy shook his head, ignoring the obligatory noise of protest that came from said undercover god. “Plus they can assist here in the infirmary if they want to.”

“Castor?” Patroclus offered another name.

Percy sighed. This was going to take a while. “Pollux would strangle me with a vine in my sleep.”

“How about Nemo?” Bellerophon suggested.

Percy fixed him with a level stare before shaking his head. “Nemo isn’t even here!”

“We weren’t even here in the first place either.” Bellerophon argued. “Can’t you do some Hocus Pocus summoning and get our Almighty Overlord to bring Nemo here?”

“If I could do that, do you not think I would have asked him to bring Invicta here by now?” Percy asked tiredly. “I would never purposefully prolong Aurum and Invicta’s separation.”

“I hate it when you make sense.” Bellerophon groaned. “Why do you have to make sense?”

“I miss Invicta.” Aurum sighed.

“We know, Aurum.” Percy nodded.

“Who’s Invicta?” Annabeth asked, curiosity colouring her tone.

“Aurum’s soulmate,” Percy answered as he turned back to look at her, knowing there was no other way to describe the two of them. “Unfortunately he’s with the team Aurum, Bells, and Sagitta were originally with.”

“What about Solis?” Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “Because he wasn’t with you when you arrived, he came back with those three and Nico.”

“I keep forgetting that he only joined us on Olympus, it feels like he’s been trying my patience for a lot longer,” Percy stated. It wasn’t a lie.

“Really Seashell?” Apollo complained. “I’m an  _ angel _ .”

“A fallen one, yeah.” Percy snorted.

“I take offence,” Apollo informed him, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair like a stubborn child. “You know I’m a bringer of light and happiness. I could bring a  _ lot _ of happiness into your life, Seashell, you only need to ask.”

Percy just sighed and twisted back to Bellerophon and Patroclus, pointedly ignoring Apollo. “I don’t want an answer right now but I need to know which one of you is going to come with us at least an hour before we go.”

“We can manage that.” Patroclus agreed, though it was a reluctant statement.

Bellerophon looked actively concerned, tilting his head slightly as he looked at Percy. “I’ve got one question.” 

Percy nodded, gesturing for him to ask.

“Can we go to dinner now?” 

After dinner had passed, Percy, the rest of his team, and Leo by extension, all begged off attending the campfire that night. They were all exhausted from the events of the last few days, though none of them wanted to admit it. The idea that a number of them would be leaving on a Quest the next day was weighing heavily on them all.

Nico had followed Percy into his bedroom and Percy didn’t even have the strength to remind him that they had given him his own room in the Cabin, simply accepting that Nico didn’t want to be alone after what they had learned that day. He spared only a glance at the diary that had taken up residence on his desk, half wanting to move it out of sight but he didn’t have the energy that the act required. It was left there, closed and hiding the secrets that lay amongst the pages.

“Are you okay?” He found himself asking, even though he already knew the answer was no. Of course Nico wasn’t okay, he’d found out that the boy who had been antagonising him over Percy’s disappearance for five years and Will’s death for almost four was responsible for the latter in the worst way possible. The amount of sheer malice in Nathan’s actions was disgusting, the fact that he’d been so willing to play trade with the life of another human being who was so universally liked and loved, just so he could appease his own desires was frankly disgusting. And the fact that he’d taken sheer delight in bringing up Will’s death as a weapon designed specifically to hurt Nico, especially when he knew full well the real reason that Will had died was due to his own hand and Nico was completely unaware… Quite frankly, Percy didn’t know how Nathan could live with himself, without a fraction of an ounce of guilt.

“He  _ killed  _ Will.” Nico sounded so broken. “He killed  _ Will _ .”

“We’re going to catch him,” Percy assured him. “We’ll catch him and we’ll catch Octavian and we’ll get Will back.”

“Four years.” Nico shook his head. “I’ve felt so guilty and blamed myself for four fucking years while he teased me and ridiculed me for letting everyone I love die and he knew full well that he was the reason why.”

“It was never your fault.” Percy winced. “What Nathan did is a disgusting thing in itself, but to repeatedly say what he said about Will, Bianca,  _ me _ … He’s irredeemable.”

“At least I thought you were alive, even if the only proof I had was a letter you’d left when all of the other evidence pointed to you being killed just outside the borders.” Nico sighed. “Will was just  _ gone _ . I remember at the time being in a haze, they could have told me any reason for his death and I would have believed them. I never had any reason to think that it was anything but a horrific accident. And now to find out that it wasn’t?” He looked at Percy with wide eyes. “I’m just so afraid that Nathan was wrong, that we won’t be able to bring him back.”

“We will.” Percy declared. “And if it comes down to it, your dad would move Olympus and the Underworld if it meant you’d be happy.”

“He went to the Fates the first time though, I don’t understand why they didn’t tell him.” Nico pointed out, running a hand through his hair. “They just laughed at him, they just laughed when they knew damn well that Nathan was up here meddling with life and death. He couldn’t even acknowledge Hazel was alive because they would have had him end her life to maintain the balance but different rules apply to Nathan? It’s not  _ fair _ .”

Nico’s shoulders slumped and he looked exhausted. It was clear he was on the brink of tears yet again, though Percy didn’t know if Nico could physically produce more tears after the amount of crying he’d done that day.

“They’d better have an explanation when we take Octavian to them.” Percy agreed.

“It’s just not  _ fair _ !” Nico repeated, dropping heavily to sit on the edge of Percy’s bed. He rested his elbows on his knees and hid his face in his hands. “Don’t they think they’ve hurt me enough?”

Percy sat beside him, wrapping his arms around Nico’s shoulders as the younger boy buried his face in Percy’s chest. His t-shirt swiftly became damp with tears and he swiftly retracted his earlier assumption that Nico wouldn’t be able to cry again.

“I’m so sorry I left you.” Percy apologised again, knowing it wouldn’t be the last time he regretted leaving Nico behind. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“I understand why you left, I do, because after Will, I wanted to leave too.” Nico admitted, slightly muffled from speaking into Percy’s chest.

“Why did you stay?” Percy asked softly.

“I figured I couldn’t go far in case you came back.” Nico sniffed. He straightened up, so Percy dropped one arm so just one was resting around Nico’s shoulders. “Stupid, I know,” Nico wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and gave Percy a weak smile, “but here you are, so I get some points for having the right idea.”

“I meant what I said on Olympus.” Percy nodded. “I want to stay here. I don’t want to return when this mission is done, my loyalties lie here, with my friends, family and Olympus. I’m not exactly willing to leave again when I know you don’t all hate me like I feared. I want to stay here for as long as possible, drag this out as much as we can. I want to help you get Will back, I want to see you be happy. I want the opportunity to be that embarrassing big brother who pretends their kid brother is a pain in the ass but will threaten to kill the boyfriend if he upsets you. Though I would definitely amend that slightly because I wouldn’t kill him because that would just upset you and judging by how much I’m rambling right now, I really can’t handle seeing you upset.”

“Please don’t kill my boyfriend if we get him back.” Nico pleaded, laughing slightly.

“ _ When _ .” Percy corrected. “ _ When  _ we get him back.”

“When we get him back,” Nico repeated. “Which we won’t be doing until we get some sleep.”

  
  



	37. Percy's A-Maze-ing Back-Up Plan for Labyrinth Navigation.

“Percy?” The sound of Nico’s voice roused him from his slumber, repeated instances of his name forcing him into the land of the living.

“Huh?” Percy groaned, lifting his head from the pillow to look at the demigod who was sitting up beside him. Nico looked far too awake for whatever time in the morning it was, though his eyes still held a slight puffiness to them that reminded Percy of the tears from the night before. He wondered whether or not Nico had slept well, or if his wakefulness had been caused by staring at the ceiling for the last few hours. He sincerely hoped that it was the former; that the night of no sleep that preceded the exhausting events of the day previous had knocked Nico out cold when his head hit the pillow, allowing him to sleep through the night with little bother from his dreams.

“Morning, Wavey!” Apollo’s voice greeted from where he was leaning in the doorway. He scrunched up his nose and shook his head. “Yeah, no, that didn’t work. It didn’t sound right, let me try that again. Morning, Seashell!”

Percy let out another unintelligible grunt before letting his head drop back onto the pillow, the act of keeping it aloft requiring too much energy. “Nico, make the sunshine go away.”

“The curtains are closed Percy, I don’t know what you’re on about,” Nico informed him, obviously trying not to laugh.

“I don’t like you right now,” Percy responded and rolled over so he was face-down in the pillow.

He felt the bed rise beside him before swiftly dipping again, the new body beside him radiating far more heat than Nico’s usually did. Which wasn’t exactly hard – Nico radiated physical coolness, even in summer, despite not having an ounce of actual ‘cool’ in his body. Unfortunately, it meant that Percy was now playing host to somebody completely different in his bed.

“Apollo, get out of my bed before I throw you out of it.” Percy threatened into his pillow.

“Ooooh, somebody isn’t a morning person.” Apollo laughed beside him.

“Nico, why did you let the crazy god in my bed?” Percy asked, still refusing to look up. If he couldn’t see it, he didn’t have to believe it was happening.

“You love it really, Seashell.” Apollo hummed.

Percy finally rolled onto his side so he could see Apollo. “Why are you in my bed?”

“Fulfilling your lifelong dream of course.” Apollo grinned wickedly before he laughed. “Actually I came to tell you that everyone going on the Quest is setting up breakfast downstairs so we can eat and discuss travel plans, etcetera, etcetera. So you need to get your cute butt down there, ASAP.”

“Why did  _ you  _ get sent to tell  _ me  _ that?” Percy raised an eyebrow at him.

“My shining personality and devastating wit make me the ideal candidate to wake up to in the morning.” Apollo gave him a winning smile. 

“Luke asked him to.” Nico corrected from where he was stealing a t-shirt from Percy’s closet.

“Why?” Percy asked.

“My shining personality and devastating wit make me the ideal candidate to wake up to in the morning,” Apollo repeated, grin widening.

Percy sighed. “I hate you.”

“Why did you ask Solis to wake me up?” Percy made a beeline for Luke as the three of them entered the room.

“He volunteered.” Luke shrugged. “Here, I got your breakfast because I knew you’d grab a piece of toast and be too lazy to get anything else.” Luke gestured to the plate beside him, stacked high with waffles and various berries, blueberry syrup drizzled over them.

“What did I do to deserve you?” Percy asked, dropping into the empty seat beside him.

“Raised me from the dead.” Luke answered dryly.

“Also, you.” Percy pointed his fork at Apollo before he started eating. “You said he asked you to come get me!”

“He asked who could get your lazy ass out of bed because he was busy getting you breakfast.” Apollo grinned, dropping into the seat opposite. Nico sat beside him with a scowl.

“You didn’t have to get in my bed though,” Percy argued.

“Got you out of it though, didn’t it?” Apollo asked, popping a grape in his mouth.

“Morning Blue.” Thalia greeted from beside him and Percy suddenly became aware of the rest of the people in the room, having solely focused on Luke when he entered in the pursuit of answers.

“Morning.” Percy waved at the room.

“He got in bed with you?” Luke snorted, apparently having processed what Percy had complained about.

“Yes.” Percy huffed.

“I’m sending him to wake you up every morning.” Luke declared. “I was expecting you to take another ten minutes, at least.”

“Please don’t.” Percy pleaded. “I’ll get up next time you ask me to.”

“Blue not a morning person?” Annabeth asked, looking amused.

“Not in the slightest.” Luke answered cheerfully.

“Lies and slander.” Percy hissed before attacking his waffles.

“He’ll be happy after food.” Luke continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “So we may as well start discussing plans – he’ll join the conversation after he’s finished pretending that the waffle he’s stabbing with his fork is Solis’ face.”

“You wound me.” Apollo pouted.

“You got in my bed!” Percy argued.

“Eat your breakfast.” Luke elbowed him.

“ _ Fine _ ,” Percy grumbled. “Meanie.”

“If you’re certain about making plans and Blue catching up when he’s in a better state, we should start discussing them,” Annabeth suggested. “When are we leaving?”

“Straight to the point.” Luke grinned at her before considering. “We don’t want to give Nathan and Octavian too much of a head start.”

“We need to figure out a way to travel.” Thalia pointed out their issue. “And figure out where they are headed.”

“Ideally, we need to leave today.” Luke nodded. “So we need to come up with answers, fast.”

“There’s too many of us to fly on Pegasi.” Piper pointed out. “Which would usually be the go-to method of catching up with someone.”

“We’d probably look like a flock of angry birds to any mortals who saw us flying over them.” Frank snorted.

“Also, Pegasi don’t like Haze and I.” Nico reminded the room.

“Arion would never love me again if I betrayed him for a Pegasus.” Hazel agreed with a laugh.

“Is Blue certain about not wanting to follow them into the Labyrinth?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.

Percy decided it was time to get involved, taking a swig of orange juice before looking up at the room. “We don’t know how dangerous this iteration of the Labyrinth is.”

“He speaks!” Luke grinned.

“I still don’t like you,” Percy grumbled. “Stop making fun of me in the mornings. And please, never let Solis come and wake me up again.”

“You’re just so  _ easy  _ to wind up.” Luke teased.

“Ignoring my Lieutenant, can someone remind me what I was on about again?” Percy looked around the room, trying to recover his train of thought.

“You were saying that we don’t know how dangerous this iteration of the Labyrinth is,” Nico answered him, looking amused. 

“Thank you Neeks. You’re a star, Unlike  _ some people _ .” Percy glared sideways at his Lieutenant.

“See if I ever make you breakfast again.” Luke laughed.

“I’m sorry, I love you, please make me breakfast when I can’t function in the morning?” Percy quickly recanted. “I’ll get you a No.1 Lieutenant mug made, I promise.”

“Of course I will,” Luke rolled his eyes, despite looking fond. “Now get on with it.”

“I’m getting there!” Percy defended. “Labyrinth, danger, yes.”

“Are you going to explain that in English?” Luke gently ribbed him.

Percy huffed before actually stringing sentences together. “We don’t know whether or not the Labyrinth is more or less dangerous than it was when Daedalus was hiding within it. Though it grew beyond its creator’s control, it still responded to his wishes to remain hidden because if he died, The Maze would die with him. It was reawakened by Pasiphaë when Gaia first tried to rise.” He recited what he knew about The Maze for the benefit of those who didn’t know much about it. “It was overrun with monsters and traps, corridors that would lead nowhere, and corridors that would end in pits that would drop you into Tartarus itself.”

“You sound like you know it well,” Hazel commented, raising an eyebrow. “Have you spent time down there?”

“I’ve walked its corridors once or twice,” Percy admitted reluctantly. “It’s not an experience I’m in a hurry to relive.”

“But if Nathan and Octavian are down there, doesn’t it make sense to follow them?” Frank asked, frowning.

“There’s the issue of actually traversing The Maze.” Percy grimaced. “There’s few who can find their way safely. One way would be to use Ariadne's String, but that was lost in the aftermath of what’s known as the ‘Battle of the Labyrinth’, so that isn’t an option anymore. The only others who can navigate it are clear-sighted mortals, and the only one that comes to mind is Rachel – who would not be able to join us due to her position as Oracle. So unless someone can make a different suggestion, our navigation skills would be near non-existent.”

“Near non-existent?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

“How are Nathan and Octavian navigating it then?” Jason added.

“We can only assume that the inherited power of Gaia provides some degree of coordination for Nathan in the same way my powers provide me co-ordinates at sea,” Percy answered. “And I said near non-existent because I know that Nico has a degree of geokinesis, as does Hazel, but I don’t exactly want to test out whether or not that extends to being able to lead us in The Maze. Creating rock formations and finding precious metals is a little different from navigation after all.”

“Daedalus gifted me his laptop before his death,” Annabeth spoke up. “I thought it was lost when Percy and I fell into Tartarus but when we returned to Camp, I found it sat on my bunk as if I had forgotten to take it with me. It holds realms of information, but I never really read much on the Labyrinth. I just recall that it listed Ariadne's String, the guidance of a clear-sighted mortal or Daedalus himself as the only way of traversing it without fear of getting lost.”

“I don’t suppose you resurrected Daedalus when you resurrected this lot?” Apollo asked, humour in his tone.

“No,” Percy said slowly, his mind racing with possibilities. He knew that Apollo had made the comment as a joke, but the sun god had hit very close to home with his question.

Luke leaned in close so he could whisper in Percy’s ear. “Would Cera be able to navigate it?”

He’d obviously had the same idea.

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Percy mumbled back.

He stood up, drawing the attention of the room. The gesture he made to the stairs was hasty and he scrambled out without giving an explanation, hoping that Luke would provide one.

“Chaos?” He stood in the middle of his room and spoke into the silence, feeling a little silly. No matter how many times he’d had to try and summon the god, he always felt ridiculous while standing and waiting for said god to show himself. “Chaos? Chaaaaaaos? Magnificent Leader, Almighty Overlord? Chaos, Creator of the Universe, Protector of the Galaxies. Father of-”

“Insolent brat, I heard you the first time.” Chaos huffed as he stepped out of nowhere, scowling. “Hello Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Twice Saviour of Olympus, Former Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Former Head Counsellor of Cabin Three, Current Head Counsellor of the Chaos Cabin-”

“Please stop.” Percy groaned, holding up a hand. “I get it.”

“What do you want from me?” Chaos asked. “I was reading a fascinating book, so many deaths. All terribly violent, perfectly wonderful and often unexpected. Nobody else kills main characters like George. R. R. Martin.”

Sometimes Percy wondered if the God of the Cosmos had always had a fascination with violent death.

“I was wondering if you could give us Cera?” Percy bit his lip.

“No.” Chaos answered cheerily.

“Do you want Gaia to rise or not?” Percy asked, trying not to let his frustration show.

“Not particularly.” Chaos shrugged. “Why do you want him? I thought you’d be asking me for Invicta, if anyone.”

“We all know you’re punishing us for how the last mission went by separating us.” Percy sighed. “Though splitting Invicta and Aurum as further punishment was just  _ mean _ .”

“Oh please, it allows them a chance to be less codependent.” Chaos snorted. “Why do you want Cera? You’ve still not said.”

“I was getting to that.” Percy rolled his eyes. “We may have to enter the Labyrinth. He may be able to navigate it.”

“Fascinating.” Chaos hummed. “Do you want to ask him?”

Apparently, he wasn’t going to give Percy a chance to answer that. Chaos reached out and shoved him hard enough to push him over before he could say a word, a yelp escaping him instead as he began to feel as if he was free-falling.

Percy landed in a patch of grass, almost in the centre of a ring of tents. A fire smouldered only inches away from his head, forcing him to swiftly roll away and rush to his feet. 

“Chaos!” He cursed under his breath. Though he had a fairly good idea where he was, he still pulled Riptide from his pocket and uncapped the blade. He looked around, praying for another sign of life. He didn’t want to risk a shout in unknown territory, fearing it may attract unsavoury attention. Instead he crept forward, tapping his foot against one of the tent pegs in the hopes it would alert its owner to movement outside.

“ _ Blue _ ?” Invicta was the one who emerged, weapon in hand. He gasped at the sight of Percy, lowering his sword.

“Oh thank fuck, I thought he’d dropped me in the middle of nowhere.” Percy sighed in relief and lowered Riptide, allowing himself to relax.

“Blue?” Several different cries rose up, with more of the team that had been separated from them emerging from their tents. Though their separation had been reasonably short so far, Percy still felt a burst of warmth in his chest; he was relieved to see them safe and well.

“Why are you here?” Scorpio asked, striding up to him and wrapping him in a tight hug. He clapped him on the back as they parted, making Percy stumble and scowl up at his brother who liked to use his height advantage for nefarious purposes.

“I said I needed to speak to Cera about the Labyrinth so Chaos dumped me here.” Percy sighed. “I don’t know how long I have.”

“The Labyrinth?” Cera elbowed his way to the front of the crowd, though the majority moved out of his path when Percy uttered his name.

“A lot has happened.” Percy grimaced, knowing that he probably didn’t have the time to give them a full update. “The short version is that Nathan is Gaia’s son, he murdered someone so he could exchange their soul to resurrect his boyfriend, we found out and he fled camp with said boyfriend via the Labyrinth. We’re going after him, but it’s looking more and more like we’ll have to enter the Labyrinth if it comes to it, but we won’t be able to navigate it. Do you think you would be able to?”

“I have to admit that I’m not sure.” Cera bit his lip. “I think I would be able to, but not as well as my father.”

“If I could persuade Chaos to let me take Cera back with me, would you be able to cope without him?” Percy aimed at the group as a whole. “And I’m sorry about him taking Aurum, Sagitta, and Pegasus with no notice, I didn’t know he was going to until they landed in a heap on Olympus while we were there talking to the gods.”

“Is Aurum okay?” Invicta asked, looking a picture of worry.

“He misses you.” Percy winced. “He loves you.”

“Tell him I miss him too?” Invicta asked. “And tell him I love him?”

“Of course I will,” Percy promised.

“Honestly, we don’t need either Cera or Invicta,” Scorpio spoke up. “This mission could have been handled by four of us, it’s just dragging out ridiculously. We should have it wrapped within a week, two at most if we have another ridiculous setback.”

“I don’t know if Chaos will let me have Cera, let alone Cera  _ and  _ Invicta.” Percy pointed out before Invicta got his hopes up.

“Don’t you have Ariadne's String?” Labyrinthus himself spoke up. He’d been one of the last to emerge, hovering at the back of the group despite the topic of conversation.

“Hello to you too.” Percy huffed at his other brother.

“Yes, hello, little brother.” Labyrinthus gave him a fond smile. “The question still stands though.”

“We don’t have it,” Percy answered. “It was lost in the aftermath of the battle we had.”

“I suppose you do need Cera then.” Chaos commented from behind him, making him flinch.

Percy turned to look at him. “You’ll let me have him then?”

“If Scorpio doesn’t need him.” Chaos huffed. “I suppose you can have him.”

“Gee thanks.” Percy gave him a fake smile. “That’s so nice of you.”

“He can only pass through the portal if you hold hands, yada yada yada, have fun on your quest, yada yada yada, don’t get murdered by monsters.” Chaos waved a hand and a portal replaced the fire pit. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I was in the middle of reading a particularly gruesome death.”

Chaos melted into shadows, leaving them with a swirling portal that Percy knew from experience wouldn’t last long without the god there to sustain it.

“Sure you don’t need them?” He made eye contact with Scorpio as he gestured to Invicta and Cera.

“Take them.” Scorpio grinned, swiftly realising Percy’s plan as he wiggled both hands at him. “We’ll see you as soon as possible.”

Percy grabbed both Invicta and Cera by the hand, dragging them towards the gradually shrinking portal.

“Love you, bye!” He yelled to the rest of the team before they jumped.

They landed in an undignified heap on Percy’s bedroom floor and he could have sworn he heard Chaos mutter the words ‘little shit’ as they groaned and untangled themselves, but dismissed it when Invicta didn’t disappear back to whatever planet Percy had just kidnapped him from.

“Everyone is downstairs.” Percy informed them as they dragged him to his feet, having had the wind knocked out of him when they’d both landed on top of him. “I think there’s still breakfast up for grabs.”

“If I hadn’t already met my soulmate…” Invicta warned him with a laugh.

They followed him downstairs, letting him lead the way in.

“What were you doing up there, it sounded like the stampede of the wildebeest in the Lion King?” Luke was on his feet as he entered, visible concern on his face.

“We do not mention that scene.” Percy reminded him before stepping aside. “I was fetching help.”

“Cera!” Luke greeted delightedly.

“Do I not get recognition?” Invicta joked. “Or are you only happy to see your potential map?”

There was an audible gasp from the corner of the table where Bellerophon and Patroclus were located, having spent the morning still squabbling over who had to go.

“Invicta!” Patroclus was on his feet and in Invicta’s arms before anyone could blink, the latter sweeping him up and spinning him around - an act that would be comical if it was not romantic, for Achilles was the shorter of the two - before setting him back on his feet and pulling him down into a kiss.

“Keep it PG, think of the children.” Percy laughed as he reclaimed his seat beside Luke.

“How come you never greet me like that when we’ve been separated?” Luke poked him in the shoulder.

“What, you want me to spin you in the air and kiss you every time we see each other after being separated for a few days?” Percy asked dryly.

“No you idiot, you know I’d rather not have your mouth anywhere near mine.” Luke rolled his eyes. “I mean, why do you never look that happy to see me?”

“You are not my boyfriend who I have been in love with since before the Trojan War.” Percy pointed out, wondering why he was even saying this. “And I did not have our ashes buried together in a golden urn.”

“ _ That’s  _ why he’s called Aurum?” Annabeth asked, her jaw dropping.

“Quick, some of us aren’t nerds.” Leo hissed. “Who are they?”

“Achilles and Patroclus.” Achilles informed them, both having removed their masks. He was gazing at Patroclus with an adoring look, despite the fact he was speaking to the room at large. 

“Does anyone want to run and kiss me?” Cera asked, laughing. “Because you two just stole my moment, despite the fact that I’m the one that Blue actually came to collect.”

“Darling!” Bellerophon was not one to let an opportunity for dramatics pass by, barrelling into Cera and sweeping the smaller legacy off his feet.

“Bells!” Cera yelped, clinging to Bellerophon’s neck as the latter carried him across the room, depositing him in Bellerophon’s vacated seat. Achilles had claimed Patroclus’, though he didn’t particularly care since he had simply just sat on Achilles’ knee. Bellerophon grabbed another chair and there was some shuffling at that end of the table before everyone was seated again.

Cera reached up and pushed his hood down delicately, setting his mask down on the table. His hair tumbled down in golden brown waves, bright green eyes glittering as he surveyed the table. There were flecks of grey in them, reminiscent of his father’s heritage, but he’d always said the man had told him he’d inherited his mother’s eyes. In all of the years Percy had known him, he had sported sun-kissed skin, a golden tan that never seemed to wax or wane. Though he knew that on his back, there were two angry red marks that started between his shoulder blades and followed a path off his shoulders; a permanent reminder of the wings that had burnt into his skin as he flew too close to the sun he had longed to touch.

“And  _ who _ are  _ you _ ?” Apollo asked, propping his head up with his hand, elbow on the table as he leaned to look at the newest occupant of the table.

Cera grinned back lazily before responding, “Icarus.”

“What?” Leo yelped, eyes widening. “Dude, I thought you’d be like  _ twelve _ ?”

“I was young when Minos had my father and I locked in the Labyrinth, but I was eighteen when we made our escape,” Icarus answered, amusement colouring his tone. Percy knew that he often found delight in the reactions to his age, finding it hilarious how many people expected him to be much younger. “Blue thinks I’ll be able to navigate my father’s creation, I’m just hoping it still remembers who I am.”

“I thought you didn’t want to go into the Labyrinth?” Jason frowned.

“I don’t.” Percy shook his head. “But it’s better to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.”

“So neither of us has to come now?” Bellerophon gestured at himself and Patroclus.

“No, Icarus will be going,” Percy informed them.

“Thank Poseidon.” Bellerophon relaxed. “Because he was winning the argument and all I want to do is sunbathe by that rather lovely looking lake and spend time with Pegasus.”

“Lazy.” Patroclus commented.

“What, like you’re going to do anything but spend time with your boyfriend?” Bellerophon rolled his eyes.

“I was thinking we could put some of Achilles’ talents to good use and help teach the campers.” Patroclus responded before pausing, thinking about something, and continuing with a frown. “Though he has to wear boots. Especially around the beginner’s archery class.”

“So we’ve got our twelfth member of the Quest.” Thalia pointed out. “Along with a solution to the Maze issue, if we have to head down there.”

“There’s a but coming, right?” Frank sighed.

“Twelve?” Icarus looked momentarily stunned. “Blue, you may need to do some introductions.”

“Agreed.” Achilles nodded.

“There’s me, Luke, Solis-” he paused for a moment realising the slight flaw in the fact that they had been saying Apollo had been with the other group, but Icarus and Achilles would have no clue who he was. He made eye contact with them both, pleading for them not to ask and hoping that they understood. “-Nico, Thalia, Leo, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Annabeth, and you, who are going on the Quest.” He pointed to each of the people they didn’t know, still hoping they wouldn’t ask about Apollo. “And obviously you know Bells and Patch.”

“Solis?” Achilles started to say but was swiftly interrupted.

“Sorry!” Patroclus yelped. “I didn’t mean to elbow you.”

“It’s okay.” Achilles hissed, sounding as okay as any man who had just been elbowed in the stomach quite severely. “I’m okay.”

“How are twelve of us going to travel together?” Icarus asked, quickly deflecting. He’d seemingly understood Percy’s desperate eye contact, moving the conversation swiftly on despite having a slightly pinched expression that warned of his displeasure.

“Thank you for raising the issue I was about to raise, yet again.” Hazel grinned at him. “We’ve tried to have this discussion once already but got nowhere.”

“If I may, before everyone starts arguing over it again.” Leo spoke up. “I may have the perfect solution.”

  
  



	38. A Prophecy-Ridden Departure.

They all followed Leo through Camp like a trail of confused ducklings, mutters of confusion passing through them as he led them further and further out of inhabited areas. It was when they hit the woods that Percy realised they were following the path to Bunker Nine, though he didn’t know what Leo could have hidden in the workshop.

He dropped to the back of the group so he could walk with Achilles, Patroclus, Bellerophon, and Icarus, wanting to take the opportunity to speak to them while they could place a reasonable distance between themselves and the rest of the group. He didn’t know when he’d have the opportunity to talk to them otherwise and he didn’t want to run the risk of Apollo’s identity being exposed accidentally.

“Are you going to tell us who Solis is or do we have to figure that out ourselves?” Achilles asked softly when he was certain none of the others could hear him, immediately understanding why Percy was making them hang back slightly.

“The gods wanted one of their own in Camp to keep an eye on Nathan and to help if Kronos came calling again,” Percy admitted, not knowing how the news would be taken. “We weren’t in a position to say no, but I think it’ll work in our favour in the long run.”

“So he’s an Olympian?” Achilles looked at him with wide eyes. “Which one is he?”

“Scorpio is going to kill me,” Percy winced. “It’s Apollo.”

“I’m surprised you agreed to that. You were given a choice in who joined, right?” Icarus whistled softly. “You’re going to be in so much trouble with big brother.”

“It’s not like any of the others could have blended in well!” Percy pointed out, defending himself. “Can you imagine Aphrodite trying to pretend she’s one of us? She’d be off in her cabin trying to play matchmaker, or she’d be trying to play matchmaker with all of us. Or Demeter trying to fit in? Nico would kill me because she’d be following him around every morning trying to make him eat cereal.”

“Did you not like the idea of Ares trailing you around camp threatening to stab you at any given opportunity?” Achilles snorted. “Or Hera telling you that you should marry before getting too close to another person?”

“What about Zeus himself?” Icarus teased. “Threatening to electrocute anyone who dared use his name in vain, making storm clouds gather whenever the smallest things pissed him off… The possibilities would be endless.”

“The options were Apollo or Hermes,” Percy informed them with a shrug. “I would have had to pick between potentially upsetting Luke or pissing off Scorpio when he wasn’t even here, but Zeus picked for us and gave us custody of our new resident sun god.”

“I can practically feel my ears burning,” Apollo dropped back to walk with them, a sunny expression on his face. “What terrible things are you telling our lovely new teammates?”

“Just catching them up on things they’ve missed,” Percy responded sweetly, plastering a fake smile on his face. “Since they’ve not been here to learn about the fun stuff.”

“Surely you mean hot stuff?” Apollo leered at him.

“No, I don’t think I do.” Percy made a point of looking him up and down before walking the last few steps to re-join the group stood outside the cliff face that was the entrance to Bunker Nine. Icarus’ snort of laughter was audible despite the hand he’d clapped over his mouth, drawing attention back to their little group and causing eyebrows to be raised.

“That was mean,” Apollo huffed, falling into position beside Percy. “You’re mean, Seashell.”

“Why are we here?” Bellerophon stage whispered to Percy, having taken up the spot on his other side. “How is a wall of rock going to transport us anywhere? I thought you said the entrance to the Labyrinth was a pile of rocks?”

“Bells, shut up and pay attention to the Firebug,” Luke hissed from just in front of them, not even turning to look.

“Killjoy,” Bellerophon muttered darkly.

In front of the cliff, Leo let his hand catch aflame. He reached out and laid his palm flat against the rock until the ground shuddered slightly beneath their feet and it opened up to reveal the hangar-sized workshop that stretched far back into the feature.

“Neat party trick,” Achilles remarked. “Does he set himself alight often?”

“A gift from his father,” Patroclus informed him before Percy could. “One of Hephaestus’ children.”

“I know that.” Achilles nudged him playfully. “I did listen when Percy used to tell us about his friends from home.”

“That makes one of us,” Bellerophon muttered.

“Tada!” Leo announced, drawing all of their attention.

Percy’s eyes widened, taking in the sight of the restored  _ Argo II  _ that was resting inside the workshop. Leo had obviously gone to great lengths to piece back together the ship that had carried them to Greece, lovingly restoring her to her former glory with only minor visible differences. The most noticeable and most major change was the replica of Festus’ head as the new masthead, carved from wood and painted with a glossy metallic sheen.

“Behold!” Leo gestured dramatically at the boat. “The  _ Argo II.V. _ ”

“Jupiter’s beard.” Jason whistled. “You didn’t tell us you were doing this!”

“I’ve just been doing bits here and there for the last few years.” Leo shrugged. “If Blue lets me steal Ignis for a few hours, I can have her ready to fly by sundown.”

“He’s all yours,” Percy agreed in a heartbeat. Then he realised the small issue. “…Though you will have to actually go and ask him.”

Leo nodded, taking it in his stride. “I think I trust Jason enough to pack for me, though you may have to supervise to make sure he actually packs important things like underwear and t-shirts. Because I once asked him to throw some stuff in a bag for me and he only packed socks and two pairs of pyjama pants. I had to fly back to camp and pack myself.”

“I don’t think I would be trusting Jason to pack for you,” Percy said slowly, shaking his head.

“That did occur to me as I was saying it.” Leo nodded. “Can someone who isn’t Jason pack for me so I can focus on our ride?”

“I will,” Nico volunteered.

“I hope everyone doesn’t mind me stealing their clothes.” Leo winced, looking slightly terrified.

“I’ll supervise?” Percy tried to reassure him, but judging by his facial expression, it wasn’t much reassurance.

“I’ll steal clothes off my cabin-mate.” Leo nodded, looking resigned to his fate. “Oh, yeah, that’s another thing. Buddy up because some of us will have to share, there’s only eight cabins and twelve of us.”

“Dibs on my own cabin,” Thalia announced, managing to get the words out before anyone else. “If I have to put up with a group of largely idiotic boys, I get my own room.”

“I’ll make you a custom ‘No Boys Allowed’ sign,” Leo cackled. “I’ll even cover it in pink glitter, just for you.”

“We’ll figure the details out later.” Percy decided hastily, before an argument broke out. “For now, we’ll let you work.”

The rest of the day was spent running around Camp; they had clothes to pack, weapons to check, and supplies to locate.

“I wish we could just collapse the Cabin down and take it with us like we usually do,” Percy commented to Luke, who was lying on Percy’s bed and procrastinating from doing his own packing as Percy emptied his wardrobe into one of his duffel bags that Incantationem had placed an expandable charm on for this exact purpose.

“Literally the only things you’ll be leaving behind is your furniture, your books and your wall decorations,” Luke pointed out, gazing at the ceiling. “And your bed,” he propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at Percy, “which I swear is more comfortable than mine. Did you give yourself the comfiest bed you could find and just let Chaos give the rest of us whatever he fished out of the dumpster behind Crusty’s Water Bed Palace?”

“Do you think I’d do something that would encourage you lot to invite yourselves for sleepovers?” Percy rolled his eyes. He continued folding t-shirts, packing more than he usually would. Judging by Nico’s habits since their arrival and Leo’s threat to steal clothes, he wouldn’t be wearing most of them himself. “Don’t you have stuff to pack?”

“Well, yeah,” Luke answered. “But where’s the fun in doing it now? There’s no sense of urgency when I know I’ve got hours to do it, I’d rather be frantically shoving all I can get my hands on in my bag as you’re yelling at me from downstairs, saying that we should have left five minutes beforehand.”

“Luke.” Percy could only shake his head and sigh. “Will you please go and pack your bag?”

“Killjoy,” Luke hissed at him, but made no indication that he was actually going to move.

Percy decided to just ignore him, hoping that the lack of attention would bore him enough that he would go and actually pack his bag. He packed the rest of his own clothes with ease, used to it after many years of having less than half an hour to grab everything and head out on ‘important’ missions. Once done with his clothes, he emptied the duffle bag they had taken from Octavian and shifted the contents into another of his own bags. He figured that travelling would be the perfect time to sift through it and figure out what information they’d gathered from camp. A quick glance at his desk reminded him to add Nathan’s diary to the bag before he zipped it closed. Though he knew it was wishful thinking, he added his copy of The Hobbit to the bag with his clothes – not wanting to contaminate it by carrying the book with Nathan’s stuff – and zipped that shut too.

“I can’t believe I’m packed and you’re-” Percy stopped when he looked at Luke. “ _ Are you seriously asleep right now? _ ”

Luke didn’t stir.

Percy groaned. He couldn’t believe that Luke had fallen asleep, but at the same time it was entirely typical of his Lieutenant. As he stepped forward, about to wake him, an idea popped into his head. He recalled why Leo had been so anxious about Jason packing his bag and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to  _ thank  _ Luke for the dedication he was showing.

“Why do you have three bags?” Nico asked as Percy hauled them out of the cabin, Luke trotting after him with the bag Percy had packed for him. Nico had two resting at his feet; though there was a marked difference between the two that answered the question of who they belonged to. One was made of rich black leather, looking as if it had been made to match the jacket that Nico was wearing underneath his cloak. The other one was leather too, but it was an odd shade of brown – some patches a different colour as if something had been spilt on it – and one side of it had splatters of white and pink paint all over it.

“I had to pack enough clothes for me to wear and for you to steal.” Percy shrugged. “And one of them is filled with the crap Nathan had on the walls in Cabin Three, along with his diary. Figured we may as well look at it while we’re flying.”

“Fair enough.” Nico nodded.

“Is that Leo’s?” Percy asked, gesturing to the paint-splattered bag. He knew it was but figured he’d ask anyway.

“One of us had to pack for him,” Nico laughed, shrugging his shoulders. “Are you two ready to go?”

“Just waiting on Solis and Icarus,” Percy informed him.

As if summoned by his words, Icarus exited the Cabin. He looked slightly lost for a moment until he noticed the three of them and his expression changed to relief.

“I thought I was going to have to wait with Solis by myself.” Icarus shuddered, the relief in his tone palpable.

“Have you seen him?” Percy asked, hoping he wouldn’t have to go and find Apollo himself.

“I haven’t seen him,” Icarus sighed. “But I could hear him singing and I think that was somehow worse. Something about not knowing you’re beautiful? I’ve got a feeling he was probably serenading his reflection.”

“Five minutes and I’ll go and get him,” Percy addressed the others, but he was mostly talking to himself, trying to convince himself into actually going and locating their resident Olympian nuisance.

“Go and get who?” Apollo’s loud and unexpected question made him jump.

“Jesus!” Percy yelped.

“No, Apollo.” Apollo corrected him with a cackle.

“You’re an absolute menace,” Percy hissed. “Are you ready?”

Apollo gestured to the two bags he had slung over his shoulder and grinned. “All packed, Seashell, keep your barnacles on.”

“You can literally change your clothes on a whim, what in Hades requires two bags?” Percy asked incredulously.

“What requires three?” Apollo retorted, gesturing to the bags at Percy’s feet. “And I’m supposed to be ‘fitting in’, remember? It would just be weird if I rocked up with nothing, unless you want me to tell everyone that I’m just going to be borrowing  _ your _ clothes?”

“Let’s just go.” Percy shook his head. Before he started to walk away though, he decided it would be for the best to do some last checks. “Has everyone got everything? Enough clothes? Toothbrushes? If we get on that boat and you’ve forgotten something, we will not be turning around so you can come and get it.”

“I didn’t know Mom was possessing you,” Nico looked mystified. “That was pretty much uncanny, though usually it’s the speech she aims at Leo and she usually says ‘car’, not ‘boat’.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just compare me to Mom,” Percy grimaced. “And I’m going to take the laughing from the rest of you as an assumption that you have everything and we can go and meet the others.”

There were several nods of agreement, the sound of laughter punctuating as he spun and started to head for the strawberry fields where they had agreed to meet.

The  _ Argo II.V _ , as Leo insisted they call her, was hovering a few feet above the field, a rope ladder thrown over the side so they could climb aboard when they planned to leave. There was a crowd of campers gathered at the edge of the field, Dionysus stood with folded arms and an unimpressed look on his face to ensure that nobody dared to actually step foot on one of the plants.

There was a clear divide in the groups; three separate clusters consisting of campers, Hunters, and the members of Percy’s team that would be staying behind.

He made a beeline for Achilles and Patroclus who were completely oblivious to the fact that there were a group of Aphrodite’s children standing and staring at them and cooing as they interacted, completely wrapped up in one another.

“Sorry to interrupt as you gaze lovingly into one another’s eyes,” Percy apologised as he drew level. “I just needed a word before we left.”

“Sure thing.” Achilles nodded, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Patroclus’ so he could look at Percy. “What’s the matter?”

“Usually I’d leave you solely in charge…” Percy bit his lip, not knowing how Achilles would take the news.

“Blue, if you’re going to tell me that you’re splitting the responsibility between myself and Ignis, I won’t be mad if that’s what you’re worrying about,” Achilles laughed. “It makes complete sense, he knows this place like the back of his hand and I’ll be able to approach it with an outside perspective, without and pre-existing opinions of the people that may cloud my assessment.”

“Oh thank the gods,” Percy melted slightly, relieved.

“I wasn’t even here this morning, I’m surprised you’re even giving me an ounce of responsibility,” Achilles pointed out.

“You’re one of our best strategists, the pair of you are almost unstoppable when you’re trying to plan something,” Percy praised the pair, giving them a smile. “I just wanted to check that you’ll be alright keeping an eye on certain campers and keeping your opinions unbiased.”

“Which campers?” Patroclus asked, dropping the volume of his voice down to meet Percy’s.

“There’s a list that I’ve left on my desk that I copied from Nathan’s notes,” Percy explained. “It has the names of his current and former associates on, the latter marked with an ‘F’ beside them. I don’t know how recent it is, but it’s a good place to start.”

“We’ll keep an eye on them all, you never know how fast allegiances can shift.” Achilles nodded, looking around warily.

“Ignis will be able to identify some of them, but the best person to go to for information when we’ve taken the Seven from the Prophecy out of Camp will be Clarisse La Rue,” Percy kept his voice hushed. “She has been here since before I came to Camp, she knows everyone and everything. She’s the Head Counsellor for the Ares Cabin, you’ll probably be able to identify her without having to ask.”

“Anyone else we can trust?” Patroclus asked.

“Ignis will be able to identify trustworthy sources of information,” Percy confirmed. “But the Stoll Brothers will be able to tell you a whole wealth of information, though whether it can be classed as ‘useful’ is a whole other matter.”

“They sound like they would get on with Bellerophon far too well.” Achilles shuddered.

Percy winced at the thought. “They’ve met.”

“I’m going to take one look at that haunted expression and say we should keep them as far apart as possible?” Achilles quirked a brow.

“Very far apart.” Percy nodded.

“Blue!” Luke called out. “Are you done?”

“Duty calls,” Percy groaned, giving Achilles and Patroclus a weary smile. “Look after each other, don’t let Bells blow up Camp, and try not to murder anyone in our absence.”

They exchanged quick hugs before Percy had to wave at everyone else in their team – having already exchanged goodbyes properly earlier when he had been unable to find Achilles and Patroclus and really didn’t want to try – and then jog the short distance back to the other eleven demigods who made up the quest.

Someone reached out and caught his arm, stopping him in his tracks only a few steps away. He turned, expecting to see one of his team wanting another hug (read, Bellerophon), but was completely surprised to see Rachel.

“Rachel?” He frowned, reaching out to steady her as she looked at him with unseeing eyes.

Unseeing eyes that started to glow green, smoke spewing from her mouth.

**_Deep within Daedalus’ Maze,_ **

**_A god is trapped, bound and drained,_ **

**_Disappearance unnoticed, long gone from a lover’s gaze._ **

**_His strength diminishes the longer he is chained._ **

**_The one with Wings of Wax will lead the way; rescue him or face dismay._ **

****

“Rachel!” Percy had to catch the Oracle as she stumbled forward, disoriented after issuing another Prophecy.

“I’m fine.” She rasped before clearing her throat. “Man, what is with being around you? That’s the second Prophecy I’ve issued in your presence in two days.”

“Yeah,” Percy replied absently, trying to mentally analyse what she had just said and praying that Apollo had memorised it to recite later. “The second one.”

“I swear if you ask me for a third-”

“I won’t,” Percy assured her, filled with swirling anxiety with the knowledge that their descent into the Maze had effectively been confirmed. “I don’t think I want to hear a third one.”

“I’ll look after the Oracle,” Bellerophon offered, having run over when Rachel had stumbled. “You should seriously get going, your Quest’s difficulty just doubled.”

Percy winced, he knew Bellerophon was right. Nathan and Octavian had already had a massive head start over them and staying to look after Rachel would only consume more valuable time. With the added threat of a missing god...

“Can you do me a favour?” He asked swiftly, mind made up.

“Sure,” Bellerophon agreed easily.

“Can you ask Blackjack to bring two of his friends and tail us to New York?” Percy requested. “We’ll need to make a stop off at Olympus to ask about any missing gods, though I doubt we’ll have much luck, and there’s nowhere I can think of in New York where we can safely get down to street level from the boat. Easiest thing will be to fly down.”

“Can’t you just fly to Olympus in the boat?” Bellerophon suggested.

“I’d rather not take my chances with Zeus changing his mind about being nice and knocking us from the sky on approach,” Percy pointed out. “Best way to approach is via the elevator in the Empire State building.”

“Consider it done,” Bellerophon promised. “Now  _ go _ !”

Percy gave him a quick smile before hurrying the last few feet to his companions, who all looked torn over whether or not they should be heading to check on Rachel. Apollo looked as if he was practically vibrating, obviously torn between rushing to aid his Oracle or vanishing to Olympus in search of answers.

Percy wanted answers too.

“We need to go.” He announced firmly. “Now.”

There were no arguments.

  
  



	39. Dionysus: God of Terrible Prophecy Recollection.

Once they were in the air, Percy asked Leo to head for New York. He was incapable of hiding the note of panic in his voice as he made his request and Leo made no attempt to argue. The son of Hephaestus crossed the deck to the sound of silence, bags strewn around at their feet as nobody wanted to be the one to start making jokes about room arrangements.

“Are we going to discuss that new Prophecy or not?” Jason asked, effectively labelling the elephant in the room and breaking the quiet. “I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m thinking that it’s pretty obvious we’re going to have to head for the Maze.”

“That’s what,  _ two  _ Prophecies that have mentioned it now? Thalia raised an eyebrow, her eyes stormy. “I’m pretty sure we should be heading underground and not into the sky, as much as it pains me to say it.”

“I’m slightly more concerned about the missing god,” Percy snarked, not in the mood to argue. There was a ball of anxiety writhing in his chest, a deep concern that stemmed from the two Prophecies that had been issued in as many days. He didn’t know if they were intertwined and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out. “Which is why I want to take a trip up to Olympus before we head down to the Labyrinth.”

“Why bother?” Hazel asked. “You heard that his disappearance wasn’t noticed.”

“Just because it wasn’t noticed whenever it happened, doesn’t mean that it will remain unnoticed,” Percy sighed. He wanted to look to Apollo for assistance but knew that the god was likely silent for a reason, running through possibilities and scenarios in his head. “The sooner the gods know that one of their numbers is missing, the sooner they figure out who.”

“Dionysus was at Camp, surely he would have gone straight to Olympus to alert them?” Jason pointed out.

“I’m aware of that.” Percy took a deep breath. “I just need to see the council myself and make sure that they’re taking this seriously. I know that they will, but I just need to double-check for my own peace of mind.”

“I get that, but isn’t it a little counterproductive?” Annabeth asked. “We’re already more than twenty-four hours behind Nathan and Octavian and not even the gods know where they are right now.”

“We’ve left Camp and the closest entrance to the Labyrinth that we’re aware of,” Jason sounded slightly exasperated. “Going to Olympus would be nothing but a waste of time. There’s nowhere in New York we can safely land this boat so we can head for the elevator up to Olympus and flying there would be a death wish.”

“Which is why I asked Bellerophon to send a few Pegasi after us.” Percy informed him, letting out an ear-piercing whistle that he had used often after gaining custody of Mrs. O’Leary. He could only hope that they’d managed to catch up with them.

“Give us a warning next time you plan to do that, Blue, it was nearly as bad as Will-” Nico stopped speaking, looking surprised at himself.

Three Pegasi emerging from the clouds behind them distracted anyone from making a comment, Blackjack and two other pure white Pegasi putting on a last burst of speed so they could land easily on the deck.

‘ _ Hi, Bossman! Heard you needed a lift? _ ’ Blackjack trotted over to him, headbutting him playfully until he started to scratch the spot behind the Pegasus’s right ear that he knew he secretly loved.

“Thank you for coming,” Percy said aloud for the benefit of those around them, trying to ignore the stunned look on Annabeth’s face as she saw Blackjack happily interacting with a ‘complete stranger’.

“You’re going to fly to Olympus on Pegasi?” Jason frowned. “Isn’t that a little… dangerous?”

Percy had to refrain from laughing; he knew full well that Jason was using the word ‘dangerous’ instead of asking about the likelihood of Zeus deciding to strike them from the sky on approach.

“No.” Percy assured him. “Blackjack and his companions can fly us as close to the Empire State Building as possible, deposit us on a nice rooftop or somewhere and then wait while we make a run up to Olympus.”

“Let me guess, you’re taking Luke and Nico?” Thalia quirked an eyebrow.

“Solis and Nico,” Percy corrected. It was the only way he would be able to separate Apollo from the group without causing suspicion and he was taking full advantage.

“Blue, you know how Pegasi feel about me.” Nico looked uneasy, eyeing the trio as if he couldn’t envision anything worse.

‘ _ I don’t mind the Death Boy, Bossman, I took him looking for you a few times. It’s not his fault he smells  _ **_funny_ ** _. He’s nice otherwise. Buys me doughnuts. _ ’ Blackjack informed him. ‘ _ Either you ride Trixie or Shadowfax and di Angelo rides me, or I carry both of you and you bring four people. _ ’

“Blackjack will either take both of us or you.” Percy relayed the information to Nico. “He likes you, apparently.”

“If you’re sure,” Nico responded, looking unsure himself.

“I’m sure.” Percy nodded. “We should go now so we get back sooner.”

“Be as quick as possible,” Luke requested. “And stay  _ safe. _ I don’t want you getting killed in the time it takes you to get from a rooftop to Olympus.”

“Stop your worrying, we’ll be fine.” Percy rolled his eyes. “Can you help sort rooms out and go through anything I may have missed with Icarus?”

“Of course,” Luke agreed. “Now  _ go _ .”

“This feels totally unnatural!” Nico screamed from where he was clinging onto Blackjack for dear life.

‘ _ The boy misses his Sunshine, _ ’ Shadowfax, Percy’s new friend, commented. ‘ _ Darkness follows him like a cloud without the boy he used to visit the stables with. _ ’

‘ _ Hopefully, we’ll be bringing Will home with us when we return to Camp, _ ’ Percy responded, his hope sincere.

_ ‘They used to hide in the bales of hay when they were avoiding Camp events and wanted to steal a moment alone, Nico reasoning that nobody would look for them there when they knew that he didn’t mix well with us,’  _ the Pegasus provided another anecdote. _ ‘He stopped coming to the stables after his boyfriend passed and we missed them in a sense.’ _

_ ‘I missed them too,’  _ Percy confessed.

“Land there!” Apollo yelled, interrupting before Percy could say anything more. The god was gesturing at the nearest building that probably wouldn’t be visible from the boat. “I can transport us to Olympus!”

A few moments later, Nico was dismounting as quickly as he could without falling on the floor. He gave Blackjack an awkward pat before fleeing to join Percy and Apollo.

“I know you’re saying he likes me, but does he really like me?” Nico asked, gesturing to Blackjack.

‘ _ He buys me doughnuts, which is more than you do, Bossman! _ ’ Blackjack teased.

“You buy him doughnuts, he adores you,” Percy snorted. “Apparently it’s more than I’ve done for a few years so he probably loves you more than me.”

“As much as I would love to stand around discussing your love affair with Percy’s pegasus, I’m the one you should be showing so love right now.” Apollo pouted and held out his hands for them to take. “Come on Seashell, hold me.”

“You’re so weird.” Nico rolled his eyes before grabbing Apollo’s left hand.

“Don’t leave me hanging here, Seashell.” Apollo wiggled his fingers and Percy sighed, grabbing Apollo’s hand.

A flash of sunlight later and they found themselves at the doors of the throne room. Nico dropped Apollo’s hand as if it was burning him but Apollo kept tight hold of Percy’s, dragging him through the doors and bursting into the middle of a frantic argument between the Council.

“Brother!” Artemis cried out, silencing the bickering. She sank slightly in her throne, a look of relief on her face when she saw that Apollo was smiling and well. 

“Have you told them the Prophecy?” Apollo aimed at Dionysus, sparing a quick smile at his sister.

“The lines of it I could remember.” Dionysus shrugged, leafing through pages of a wine catalogue with a deliberate air of boredom. Some things never changed. “Prophecy recall is your area of expertise.”

“Seriously?” Apollo huffed. He looked as if he was about to rip the magazine from Dionysus’ hands and hurl it from the edge of Olympus. Percy probably wouldn’t stop him.

“Seriously.” Dionysus nodded.

“ **_Deep within Daedalus’ Maze,_ **

**_A god is trapped, bound and drained,_ **

**_Disappearance unnoticed, long gone from a lover’s gaze._ **

**_His strength diminishes the longer he is chained._ **

**_The one with Wings of Wax will lead the way; rescue him or face dismay._ ** ” Apollo uttered, reciting the entire thing off the top of his head. “It’s five lines, Dionysus, how could you get any of that wrong?”

“I don’t like all the little rhymes and threats to our existence,” Dionysus waved a hand. “I particularly didn’t like the one about Perry Johansson. Though it could have been about Chico de Angler, I suppose.”

“That’s really not the point right now,” Apollo sighed. “We thought popping in would be a waste of time, but it seems like it was a good thing so we could actually tell you the full prophecy. How much did he get wrong?”

“He said maimed instead of drained and missed out the whole line about how the disappearance was unnoticed,” Athena informed them, looking fascinated by the corrected edition. “The version you just gave us makes a lot more sense now.”

“How can we not have noticed a god going missing?” Hermes asked. “I thought we were keeping better track of each other after what happened last time.”

“The fact that we can say ‘last time’ is quite frankly, ridiculous,” Poseidon commented. “Hades, when was the last time you saw Thanatos?”

“Ten minutes before you called me here for an emergency meeting,” Hades deadpanned. “So unless he has managed to get himself kidnapped from the Underworld within the hour, I don’t think he’s the one missing this time.”

“Unnoticed though, that is important,” Athena pointed out. “It could be anyone we don’t see regularly, someone who is removed from our purview, who we wouldn’t notice that they were missing until it was too late.”

“Hades, are there any Underworld gods that you don’t see regularly who may be missing?” Zeus asked.

“We don’t exactly meet up regularly for slumber parties to braid each other’s hair,” Hades snapped. “It could be anyone, not just one of the gods who fall under my domain. We need to spread the word amongst the minor gods, ask them and warn them.”

“I only ask.” Zeus held his hands up in an attempt to placate. “We do not need Death to stop again.”

“We were planning to keep out of the Maze as much as possible,” Percy spoke up. “But it seems like we’re going to have to delve down into it.”

“Are you certain you will be safe with only Apollo aiding you?” Poseidon asked, clear concern on his face.

“Ten demigods, one Legacy and one god are going to attract enough attention, we don’t need to add to that.” Percy grimaced.

“A Legacy?” Zeus arched an eyebrow. “I thought you were taking the Satyr?”

“I took an unexpected trip with Chaos to see the other half of my team this morning,” Percy explained reluctantly. Knowing that both Achilles and Icarus were wandering around introducing themselves with no qualms was useful to Percy in the sense that admitting who he had with him would not be breaking the Oaths of Secrecy he had sworn. “I came back with two of them, though I only went for one. Bringing Achilles back was a spur of the moment decision because I knew it would make Patroclus happy. I went with the intention of only bringing back the one who could potentially guide us in the Labyrinth, Icarus.”

“How is my grandson?” Athena asked. “I presume the Prophecy refers to him when it references the one with ‘Wings of Wax’?”

“He’s good,” Percy answered simply, not wanting to discuss the implications of Icarus being directly referenced in the Prophecy.

“We probably shouldn’t stick around for too much longer,” Nico spoke up, glancing at his watch. “We’re taking up time that  _ you  _ could be spending trying to figure out who is missing and we’re taking up time that  _ we  _ could be spending trying to find whoever is missing.”

“Nico is right,” Percy declared.

“Indeed he is.” Hades nodded. “Poseidon and I should take our leave and head to our realms to check our numbers before reconvening here.”

“Apollo, I understand that you will be leaving with Percy and Nico, but I ask that you visit back where you can so we can keep you updated,” Zeus requested. “It will be a shame to lose your assistance with your social network of friends, but finding this unidentified god  _ and  _ the missing demigod duo are more important.”

“Time is hard to track in the Labyrinth,” Percy warned. “So don’t expect his visits to be regular.”

“Understood,” Zeus rumbled. “Stay safe.”

Before Apollo could reach out and take their hands again, Nico zeroed in on his father. “Do you know of any entrances to the Labyrinth in New York?”

Percy thanked the gods that Nico was using his brain.

“In Central Park, near to the Underworld entrance that Mr Jackson and you acquainted yourselves with, there is a hollow tree. You’ll find a trapdoor that leads down into the Labyrinth there,” Hades explained. “Failing that, there is one located in the basement of the Marriott Hotel a few blocks from here.”

“Thanks dad,” Nico smiled at him before reluctantly offering his hand out to Apollo. “We had best get going before Jason has an aneurysm.”

“Stay safe!” Poseidon’s parting words were the last they heard as Apollo grabbed Percy’s hand again and took them back to the rooftop.

“There’s an entrance to the Labyrinth in Central Park,” Percy informed their companions as he clambered down from Trixie’s back, Apollo having commandeered Shadowfax after learning his name. He’d called it the one opportunity for Legolas to steal Gandalf’s horse and Percy had  acquiesced with little argument.

“Awesome!” Leo was already moving to his controls.

“Learn anything else?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, Dionysus can’t remember a five-line Prophecy to save his life,” Apollo huffed. “He got half of the rhymes wrong and forgot a full line of it!”

“Solis gets very passionate about Prophecies,” Percy informed them.

“It wasn’t even a hard one to remember!” Apollo sounded indignant. “Oh, and it’s not like it was  _ important  _ or anything.”

‘ _ Head back to Camp. _ ’ Percy took the opportunity to go and scratch Blackjack’s head while Apollo had a mini-meltdown. ‘ _ Thank you for coming and thank you for taking Nico. I really owe you doughnuts big time now. _ ’

‘ _ Yeah, you do _ .’ Blackjack headbutted him gently. ‘ _ Stay safe Bossman, don’t go disappearing on us again. _ ’

Percy watched as the trio flew away, wishing that it could be as simple as just three of them using the Pegasi to chase Nathan and Octavian and bring them back to Camp. Instead, he now had  _ two  _ Prophecies to contend with, twelve lives – including his own – to worry about, and a missing god to top it all off. He didn’t even want to think about the consequences if Nathan’s intel proved to be wrong and they couldn’t bring back Will. The prospect left a sour taste in his mouth. He knew he shouldn’t expect the worst, but he couldn’t help being pessimistic, despite how dearly he wanted the information to be accurate. The idea of Nico’s grief in such a situation was almost unbearable to think about.

“Central Park!” Leo crowed delightedly, forcing him out of his thoughts.

“It will be easier if just a few of us go down and find the entrance,” Percy suggested, though he knew the reaction would be irritation. He held a hand up to stop complaints before they started. “Twelve of us traipsing around is just going to act as a signal to all the monsters in the area. It’ll be easier if a few of us go and then when we’ve found it, we won’t be wandering around for too long.”

“He’s right,” Annabeth agreed unexpectedly.

Which apparently settled the matter, because nobody argued after that.

“Who’s going then?” Jason asked sullenly. He was obviously expecting Percy to pick from his own team again, unhappy about being left out.

“Do you want to?” Percy offered an olive branch, hoping that it would appease Jason’s desire to feel as though he was truly part of the Quest.

“It would be nice to be included,” Jason responded, a slightly petulant edge to his voice.

“Alright, me and you it is,” Percy decided to ignore commenting on it, not wanting to increase any friction that may potentially be growing. “Anyone else have a burning desire to come and find a dead tree?”

“Sounds riveting,” Thalia snorted. “I’ll pass though, I’ve had enough experience with dead trees.”

“Oh, Neeks, I’ll need you,” Percy realised. “I’m afraid I can’t really remember the appearance of the rock your dad was talking about.”

“I can Shadow Travel the three of us down there easy peasy if you just want to stick to a small number?” Nico offered.

Percy could just tell that Apollo was about to make some sort of comment about the use of Shadowtravel so he nodded swiftly. “Three of us will be fine.”

“What are we looking for?” Jason asked once they had stepped out of the shadows, mere inches away from the rock that hid an entrance to the Underworld.

Now that he was faced with it, Percy felt like he actually recognised it… Though it could have also been the other rock that was sitting a few metres away. Or the other one he could see.

“A hollow tree,” Nico informed Jason. “It’ll be big enough to fit a person in for sure, my dad said that the trap door leading into the Labyrinth was inside it.”

“Are you going to start bickering over hotel prices like the other two?” A female voice made the three of them swiftly draw weapons. Percy took the cap off Riptide, Jason flipped his coin, and Nico rolled his eyes at their transforming weapons and simply drew his sword from where it hung at his side. They all spun to face a very surprised looking dryad, who shrieked when she saw three swords. “Sorry!” She yelped. “I made you jump, didn’t I?”

“Just a little,” Percy admitted, lowering Riptide. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Oh!” The dryad beamed at him. “I just asked if you were going to argue about hotel prices like the other two because I heard you mentioning the Labyrinth entrance and figured you might know the two demigods that came out of it before.”

“One of them tall, blonde and pale?” Percy asked. “The other one shorter than him, brown hair and a permanent scowl?”

“Yep!” She nodded.

“Can you tell us about them please…” Percy realised they didn’t know her name.

“Ivy.” Ivy informed him with a wink. “I’ll tell you all about them if you tell me your names?”

“I’m Nico, he’s Jason, and that’s Blue.” Nico gestured between them. “When did you see them? The other two demigods, I mean.”

Ivy looked to the setting sun and frowned. “It was only about two hours ago,” she nodded. “They came out of the Labyrinth and made such a racket, they were arguing like there was no tomorrow.”

“What were they arguing about?” Percy asked.

“Why are you called Blue?” Ivy countered. “And what’s with the masks?”

“Blue is a bit of a codename,” Percy answered, knowing that she may decide to stop answering their questions if she felt like it. “And the mask is to protect my secret identity.”

“Sounds weird, but okay.” Ivy responded cheerfully. “The blonde one, Tavy I think the other one called him, was trying to persuade Nat – the brown-haired one – to go back into the Labyrinth and head for L.A but Nat wanted to get a hotel for the night and go tomorrow. Tavy was saying about how they had been down there for more than a day and had only covered from some Camp place to here and it was a miracle that they hadn’t been found yet.”

“Did they go back into the Labyrinth?” Jason asked.

“Nope!” Ivy shook her head. “Nat won the argument, said that he wanted a night in a hotel and a shopping trip tomorrow before he had to go back into, and I quote, ‘that horrible, nasty Maze, baby’. Tavy seemed very annoyed with him at first.”

“Thank you, Ivy.” Percy smiled at her, delighted that they very clearly weren’t as far behind Nathan and Octavian as he thought. “We’re going to go and tell our friends about this but we’ll be back in the morning. Could you possibly keep an eye on the entrance and tell us if you see them again?”

“Sure thing!” Ivy nodded. “You can count on me.”

Back on the boat, their companions immediately crowded around them.

“Did you find it?” Annabeth asked. “You weren’t gone for very long, did everything go alright?”

“We met a dryad called Ivy,” Nico informed them. “She said that a blonde called Tavy and a brunette called Nat climbed out of the entrance about two hours ago and headed into the city to get a hotel.”

“Seriously?” Thalia’s jaw dropped.

“We figured we may as well get some rest tonight and try to intercept them in the morning. It’s not worth trying to go through every hotel in New York City.” Percy nodded. “Apparently Octavian tried to convince Nathan that they should have stayed in the Labyrinth and headed for L.A but Nathan won the argument about staying in a hotel and carrying on tomorrow.”

“I hope they stay somewhere with lots of bedbugs,” Thalia grumbled.

“Speaking of, did you sort out rooms before?” Percy asked Luke.

“Yep!” Luke answered cheerily. “You and Neeks, Icarus offered to share with Solis out of the goodness of his heart, Frank and Hazel, Piper and Jason, and the rest of us,” he gestured at himself, Leo, Thalia, and Annabeth, “get our own rooms.”

“I’m sure you gave yourself your own room out of the goodness of your heart?” Percy asked sarcastically.

“I knew you’d understand.” Luke beamed.

Percy figured he’d get his revenge when Luke realised that the bag Percy had ‘packed’ for him only contained socks, underwear, and one pair of Hufflepuff pyjamas that clashed horribly with Luke’s hair. Everything else was packed into the third bag Percy had lugged across camp, but Luke didn’t need to know that minor detail.

“We should have some dinner and get some rest,” Percy pretended to ignore Luke.

“Nico, my man, are you going to do us all a solid and Shadowtravel to the nearest McDonald’s?” Leo asked. “I don’t think this girl would fit through a Drive-Thru.”

  
  



	40. Disneyworld: Leo's Dream Quest Location.

The first night on the  _ Argo II.V  _ was an interesting one. 

After a minor dispute between Nico and Apollo over the former Shadow Traveling again, much to the bemusement of their company, Nico had simply taken the god with him. They’d returned with enough food to feed a small army, Apollo muttering indignantly about the lack of nutritional value and the lack of variety in a teenage demigod’s diet. Everyone had chosen to ignore him.

The evening that had followed felt exactly like one of the few that the entire crew got to spend together on their trip to Greece, just with a few extra people on board and a number of them still under the impression Percy was missing. It had been weird, interacting with Annabeth in a setting he couldn’t really escape from. He knew any ounce of hostility he showed towards her would be met with confusion and give away further unnecessary clues to his identity, but acting like a passing acquaintance was difficult. He wanted to still be upset with her, to have had the opportunity to get used to seeing her around again and accept that if he wanted to come home, seeing her would be something he had to get used to. He just didn’t expect it would be like this, thrust into close proximity that he couldn’t just walk away from.

Despite his initial reservations, it was easier than he had predicted to utilise the space of the large mess hall and place the most distance he could between himself and Annabeth without it seeming weird. It was worth it though, even if he’d had to watch Thalia interrogate Luke about Zoë from across the room when he had wanted nothing more to join the carnage of his Lieutenant’s flustered responses. He’d kept his distance, idling with Apollo and Icarus for the majority of the evening while Nico floated in and out of their corner of the room.

“Sleep alright?” Nico asked softly from the other side of the cabin, obviously having noticed that he was awake and staring at the ceiling as he mentally ran-through the events of the night before.

“As well as I could,” Percy sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “You?”

“Nightmares,” Nico answered simply.

“Do you want to talk about them?” Percy offered, wanting to provide a willing ear.

“Are you coherent enough to carry a conversation?” Nico teased softly. “Or do I need to go and get you a coffee before I get emotional?”

“You know that I’m not usually that bad in the mornings, yesterday was an exception,” Percy huffed. “I was tired!”

“Yeah, well, shift over.” Nico rolled out of his own bed and started to amble across the room towards Percy. “I’ll poke you if you start to fall asleep on me.”

Percy genuinely couldn’t think of an occasion when he had seen Nico wearing the orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt that he had slept in, slightly too large and clearly several years old if the slightly faded quality of it was any indication. It clearly didn’t fit him properly, too loose and a little too long, as if Nico had stolen it from someone taller. It was that point he realised who it probably belonged to and the teasing comment that had been about to roll off his tongue vanished.

“Come on then.” Percy held the side of his duvet up and pretended to roll his eyes. “Talk to your big brother.”

“There are times when I hate you,” Nico informed him but flopped down beside him all the same. “Deep, deep down, there’s a hatred that resides within me.”

“You don’t have an evil bone in your body, just a funny one - especially if you think I’ll believe that you hate me,” Percy laughed. “So, want to talk about it?”

“I’ve always had nightmares,” Nico started slowly. “Dreams and death - particularly dreams  _ about  _ death - are old friends of mine, so usually I’ve got some level of control over them. I thought I had a handle on them, but talking about Will so much recently…”

“Ah.” Percy winced. He suddenly understood what Nico had dreamt about in perfect clarity.

“There was this one dream that I used to have.” Nico moved slightly to get more comfortable before continuing. “I was terrified it would come true because it was always so vivid.”

“What was it?” Percy asked gently after a moment of silence.

“That I’d wake up one day and I wouldn’t love him anymore,” Nico confessed. “I know it’s stupid for me to say, we weren’t exactly married for fifty years with kids and a dog, I don’t even know how long I can say we were together considering how much I disappeared on him, but I loved him. Love him. And the idea of getting him back is terrifying because what if I see him again and don’t feel the same way I did?”

“Nico…” Percy winced.

“I used to worry that I’d wake up one day and have feelings for someone else, which was an even worse idea than not loving him,” Nico continued. “I was terrified for months after I lost him, still am terrified actually, that I’d develop feelings for someone else and Eros would show up and tell me that it was my punishment for crossing him, that he’d given me time to grieve but it was time to move on and I wouldn’t have a choice.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever been unfortunate enough to encounter Eros in the flesh, but I think he knows that your dad would send the hounds of hell after him if he dared to do something so blatantly cruel,” Percy attempted to comfort him. The words he spoke were true though; he had a very strong feeling that Hades would attempt to murder Eros if the god of love dared to lay a finger on Nico, and whether the finger was literal or figurative wouldn’t matter.

“Sometimes I wonder if this is his punishment, for me to forever be in love with someone that he didn’t think would ever come back. He probably tried to turn the Eiffel Tower  _ pink _ in celebration when he heard the news,” Nico’s laugh was harsh. “He will probably be out there kicking himself as soon as the news filters through the gossip chains on Olympus.”

“At least we’ve got one of the main sources of Olympus’ gossip mill with us,” Percy pointed out, thinking about their resident god. “He can’t do much in the way of spreading gossip from here, and I sincerely doubt he’d ever tell anyone anything that could be used to harm you.”

“I wonder if Icarus has let him survive the night?” Nico wondered aloud, changing the subject. Percy got the message, he didn’t want to continue discussing a topic that gave him nightmares. Percy also understood the sentiment perfectly.

“Honestly, I was a little confused that Luke said Icarus offered to share with him,” Percy admitted. “Icarus has never been one to stick around when Apollo is mentioned, and believe me, he’s mentioned a lot. Orion is still holding a grudge against Apollo for sending a scorpion after him because he thought Artemis was going to break her vows for him and Michael and Lee often get defensive over their dad. Usually, he disappears from the room at the mention of his name and the time he didn’t and Orion asked him what his opinion on him was, he bolted. We couldn’t find him for hours.”

“Did you even think about that when you asked Icarus to come with us?” Nico asked, concern in his eyes.

“It may have slipped my mind,” Percy admitted guiltily, picking slightly at the loose thread on the seam of his duvet cover as a distraction. He was, unfortunately, telling the truth. All thoughts of Icarus’ unexplained behaviour at the mention of the god in question had vanished when he had been trying to figure out who could possibly assist them on their Quest. His first, obvious, thought had been Labyrinthus himself before realising that the other son of Poseidon had only been able to navigate the Maze due to his possession of Ariadne’s String. “I was panicking over who else we could bring!”

“I’m sure he’d have told you if he actually had a problem with him,” Nico pointed out in an attempt to reassure him. “And he definitely wouldn’t have offered to share a room with him. Unless he wanted to slit his throat in his sleep.”

“Nico!” Percy groaned.

“You’ve probably thought about it!” Nico defended himself. “I know you’re not used to having the gods around to actually assist you and I know Apollo can be a little overbearing at times, but-”

“Nico.” Percy cut him off gently. “I can assure you that I’ve not considered slitting Apollo’s throat in his sleep. It’s actually been kind of  _ nice _ to have him around?”

“I really thought I’d get pissed off with him over the years, you know?” Nico sighed. “Apollo, I mean.”

“What do you mean?” Percy asked, admittedly curious to hear Nico talk about the god without Apollo there to interject his own opinions.

“With the way he follows me around, acting like he’s another dad,” Nico explained. “I know that Will made him swear an Oath on the Styx to look after me as he was dying, but he’s gone beyond that. I thought it would just be a few check-ins here and there when he remembered, just to make sure I wasn’t dead or dying in a ditch somewhere. If I’m not staying at mom’s or Camp, I’m either at my dad’s or Apollo has kidnapped me for the weekend. Your dad does the same, but it’s not as often, and I think he worries about my dad getting pissy with him over it. Apollo doesn’t care, he’s kidnapped me from my dad’s palace before because he wanted to take me to see some shitty musical on Broadway or decided to take me to some ice cream parlour that he’s found by some random beach in Australia. I think it’s his way of coping – if he can’t do it with Will, he’ll take me instead.”

“I think he cares more than we give him credit,” Percy nodded. “I think a lot of our parents care more than we give them credit for. I maybe wouldn’t have said that before I left, but since coming back… There’s definitely been a difference in the way I’ve seen gods treating their kids.”

“I think the war with Kronos made a lot of them realise that the demigods who swapped to the other side did it because of them; because they didn’t feel like they cared about them,” Nico agreed. “And I don’t think they want that happening again.”

“After this is all over I think there’s going to be a lot of things that they don’t want happening again,” Percy huffed. 

“I just want to know where the fuck Nathan found the ritual,” Nico admitted. “I think it would ease a lot of my worries if we had the original source to check Nathan’s knowledge against. The boy is like a goldfish, I don’t trust his memory retention skills in the slightest.”

“Do you know that a goldfish’s memory only lasting a few seconds is a common misconception?” Percy jumped at the opportunity to offer up the information.

Nico sighed. “Percy, you do not need to tell me facts about fish. Your dad tells me enough when he takes me to SeaWorld protests. And to aquariums. And to the zoo. Basically anywhere your dad takes me that he can tell me a fact about fish, he does.”

“Fish facts are my passion.” Percy pouted. “But if you don’t want to hear them, fine. I’ll Iris message Achilles or Patch later and ask them to check the books Chiron keeps in the attic to see if the ritual was taken from there.”

“Are you going to sulk if I don’t let you tell me fish facts?” Nico asked.

“He’ll say no but he actually means yes,” Luke informed them from where he had just stuck his head around the door and heard the tail end of their conversation.

“What do you want?” Percy asked, looking over at his Lieutenant.

“Well I came to say rise and shine,” Luke huffed before stepping into the room and showing off his ridiculously sunny yellow Hufflepuff pyjama shirt and matching shorts. “But also,” he gestured to himself, “I thought you said you’d packed for me?”

“Should have packed yourself instead of having a nap.” Percy beamed at him. “I really hope that your little afternoon nap was worth it.”

“You’re a little shit,” Luke declared.

“Your stuff is in the third bag I brought along,” Percy informed him reluctantly, his smile dimming slightly as he had to end the prank before it truly became fun. “I wasn’t going to tell you until you were stealing my stuff but if we’re going into the Labyrinth today, we’re going to have to downsize what we take with us.”

“You don’t think we’ll catch them before they can go down?” Luke frowned.

“It would be too easy if we did,” Percy pointed out. “And we’d have to head down there anyway to find the missing god.”

“I hate it when you talk sense,” Luke sighed.

Percy nodded. “So do I.”

“Ivy?” Percy called out softly once they were down on the ground, looking around for any sign of the dryad. 

Leo had flown them down as close as he could to the treetops before they’d all had to clamber down a rope ladder - Leo and Nico staying behind so Leo could program the ship’s navigation system to circle the skies before the son of Hades transported them to solid ground. Percy had clung to the damn thing as he had descended, terrified that Zeus would convince one of the wind gods to send a gust that would send Percy literally flying through the air.

There was a rustle amongst the foliage, cautious footsteps audible until said dryad poked her head around the tree trunk covered in her namesake. Her face split into a smile as she saw who was waiting for her and she stepped out to the edge of the pathway.

“Morning Blue!” She greeted. “And morning to your friends, I see you’ve brought more of them than you did last night.”

“Hi, Ivy.” Jason waved at her from behind Percy.

“Have you seen Nat or Tavy today?” Nico asked over Percy’s other shoulder.

“Hello to you too, Nico,” Ivy huffed.

“Sorry, hi Ivy,” Nico said sheepishly. “Have you seen Nat or Tavy today?”

“Nope, no demigods,” Ivy shook her head. “Just your average joggers who got a bit lost and ended up in this area of the park.”

“Thanks,” Percy gave her a smile despite the dread settling in his insides.

“It’s past midday, they would have checked out and left their hotel by now,” Annabeth pointed out with a groan.

“We said last night, it’s not like we can go around every hotel in the city and ask whether or not Nathan and Octavian stayed there last night.” Thalia reminded them, sounding equally frustrated.

A sudden thought hit Percy.

He spun to face Nico, making the son of Hades flinch with how sudden his movement was. “Hotel!” He said swiftly, slipping out before he could formulate a sentence. “Neeks, hotel!”

“I think he’s lost it,” Nico stage whispered.

“No, idiot, your dad!” Percy waved his hands. “Your dad said that there were two entrances to the Labyrinth that he could think of – this one,” he gestured to the nearby tree, “and one in the basement of a Marriott a few blocks from Olympus.”

Nico’s eyes finally widened in understanding. “It would be just our luck if those two managed to find the one hotel in Manhattan with a Labyrinth entrance in the basement.”

“Are you two saying what we think you’re saying?” Apollo whined. “Can you stop with your weird twin-telepathy thing and explain it to those of us who don’t speak Bluico-ish?”

“Hades told us that another entrance to the Labyrinth is in the basement of the Marriott Hotel that’s a few blocks from Olympus,” Percy explained swiftly. “Knowing our luck, it’ll be the hotel that Nathan and Octavian stayed in last night.”

“You think they’re already down there?” Thalia understood swiftly.

Percy and Nico exchanged looks. “Yes.” 

“Well, this is not what I thought I would be doing today this time last week.” Leo whistled once Nico had climbed down the ladder, all twelve of them now stood in the service tunnel that branched off from the main one. He sparked flames at his fingertips as Ivy closed the trapdoor above them, illuminating the doorway that would lead them out into the body of the Labyrinth.

“I don’t think any of us expected that this is what we would be doing when we woke up two days ago,” Thalia pointed out. She shuddered, eyeing the walls with unease. “I preferred the flying boat.”

“I was hoping to see ‘Speak  _ Friend  _ and Enter’ up there, but all I’m seeing is ‘Death to All That Enter’ and that’s quite the bummer.” Leo whistled, reading the words carved into the stonework above the door. “Why do we never get to go anywhere fun on Quests? Can’t we go somewhere like Disneyworld?”

“Leo, when we catch these two and hopefully find this missing god, if we surface anywhere near Florida, I’ll take you to Disney myself,” Percy promised.

“You think we’ll end up in Florida, not France?” Leo asked. “Because I’m all for Disneyland Paris too.”

“I haven’t a clue where we’re going to end up,” Percy sighed. “I just hope this ends well.” 

  
  



	41. Apollo Wants to be the God of Watching Percy's Back.

“This is not going well,” Icarus declared from where he had stopped at the head of the group.

After exiting the service tunnel, much to Leo’s dissatisfaction at having to pass beneath the sign, they had simply looked down and noticed that two pairs of footprints had come from the left, so they headed to the right - following the path that Octavian and Nathan would have taken.

And then they had hit the first fork in the path.

“What do you mean?” Percy asked, sliding past a few bodies so he was level with his teammate who was staring at the floor with an uncertain look on his face.

“They’re both glowing,” Icarus responded. “The path to what you desire is supposed to be the one that glows, but both of them are glowing.”

“Which means that what we desire is in two separate directions,” Annabeth spoke up. “Think about it. We want to find Nathan and Octavian. That’s path one. We also want to find the missing god. That’s path two. We need to choose which one we want  _ more _ .”

“So we have to choose between catching a murderous traitor and finding a missing god?” Piper asked. “Great.”

“Nico,” Percy turned to locate his friend. “This should be your choice.”

“You can’t say that,” Nico denied, shaking his head. “That’s not fair. You can’t ask me to make that decision because you know what I’ll say. I’m biased about this.”

“Look, I know we originally planned to go after Nathan and Octavian and I may be playing devil’s advocate here with what I’m about to say.” Jason held his hands up and looked guilty. “But wouldn’t it make more sense to try and locate the god first, Nathan and Octavian second?”

Piper elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ouch, Pipes!” Jason yelped. “Can you at least let me defend my reasoning?”

“Do you genuinely have a defence?” Piper raised an eyebrow.

“Yes!” Jason nodded. “Look, Nathan and Octavian are on the side to Gaia, that’s safe to assume.”

“Well no shit, Sherlock,” Apollo muttered under his breath.

“It is  _ also  _ safe to assume that it is Gaia who is responsible for kidnapping the god.” Jason continued, ignoring Apollo. “And no doubt that is where Nathan and Octavian will be heading. The issue with following them is that no doubt they’ll be getting lost and going in circles if Nathan cannot properly guide them. We follow the path to the god and we get there first, deal with whoever is holding him and lie in wait for Tweedledee and Tweedledum to show up.”

“I can’t believe Jason is the one making sense,” Leo whispered. “Someone pinch me, Jason is actually making sense.”

“He has a point,” Nico agreed, though he looked slightly pained. “They’ll probably be headed for whatever stronghold they’ve established within the maze.”

“We can follow them there if you would prefer?” Percy offered.

“No,” Nico shook his head. “We find the god first.”

Apollo had moved up to the front of the group, standing close to Percy and Icarus. “We had better be making the right choice here,” the god muttered so only they could hear him.

“We’ll find them,” Percy stated, determined. “All of them.”

Icarus took the left.

“I feel like we’ve already walked through here four times,” Leo announced after they passed through yet another room that had concerningly blank walls. “How long have we even been down here?”

“A few hours?” Percy responded, despite the fact he truly didn’t know. Time passed differently down here, that much he knew for sure. He just didn’t know how much time  _ had  _ passed.

“Are you saying it might have been a few hours or are you saying it  _ has  _ been a few hours?” Thalia asked, sounding bored out of her skull.

“It has been a little under five and a half hours since we entered the Maze, we have several hours left until the sun is supposed to set,” Apollo announced to the group as if he was simply reading it off a clock.

“Is Solis’ name actually Sol Dial?” Frank sounded mildly impressed.

“We keep him around to tell the time,” Percy answered with a laugh.

“You keep me around for my pretty face,” Apollo retorted. “And my wonderful sense of humour.”

“I’d agree with that if your face was pretty,” Percy shot back. “And we keep you around to laugh at you, not with you.”

“I swear you’re not this mean when it’s just the two of us,” Apollo pouted at him and he just rolled his eyes.

“Speaking of faces, how come you still hide yours?” Hazel asked.

Percy nearly tripped over thin air.

“Yeah, actually, why do you still hide your face?” Annabeth joined in. “We all saw it when Nathan pulled your hood down, even if you were wearing your mask. It only really works when the shadows of your hood aid to obscure.”

“If what you saw was my actual visage, then I wouldn’t be hiding,” Percy responded. “A little trickery with the Mist can go a long way, even with demigods.”

“So you’re saying that what we saw wasn’t you?” Frank asked.

“I’d rather the revelation of my identity be on my terms and not when Nathan decides to fight dirty and pull my hood down after losing,” Percy sighed, repeating the same sentiment he had expressed to Leo after said incident.

“Which is why you’ve revealed your identity to nearly everyone on this team, bar Frank, Hazel, and I?” Annabeth asked.

Percy nearly tripped on thin air once more.

“How about we have this dispute in the next room with blank walls that we pass through?” He suggested, tiring of arguing as they walked.

“Fine,” Annabeth retorted.

There was silence from then on.

“Aha!” Icarus broke the silence when he saw a doorway up ahead, knowing from the experience they had gained that it most likely led into a room of sorts.

Percy faltered in the doorway, recognising it in an instant.

Torches that burnt with an eternal flame lit up the room, positioned at intervals throughout three of the four walls. The fourth wall was a mosaic, its colour faded and tiles crumbling in places. On one of the walls, the torches were positioned on either side of a set of doors and this time they were both open and empty, void of anything that blocked their path. In the centre of the room was a fountain, dry and crumbling.

A small push from Nico forced him into the room and he had to wonder whether the Labyrinth had led them here on purpose. He also wondered how far away from camp they really were. Behind him, Annabeth gasped. He forced himself to not turn around and witness the look on her face at the sight of the room where Hera had appeared to them, focusing his gaze on the fountain.

“This is a Roman mosaic,” Jason said in a breathy tone as he examined the wall, reaching out with fingers that barely touched.

“This room is old,” Apollo agreed, looking around wearily as if he expected his Roman counterpart to split from him and jump out of the fountain to ambush them.

“I’ve been here before,” Annabeth announced. “With Percy.”

“Seriously?” Thalia jerked back from the fountain.

“Those doors were locked,” Annabeth gestured to the two paths. “They had chains on them and Janus appeared and told me I had to choose. Hera made him go away.”

“Oh, so this is where you pissed off the Queen of the Gods enough that she dropped a statue on me?” Thalia raised a brow.

“It wasn’t here,” Annabeth shook her head. “This is where our disagreement probably began. Where she actually developed her grudge against me was back in camp, by your tree actually, when I refused to thank her for her half assed attempts to ‘help’ us.”

Thunder rumbled above, shaking a few small tiles loose from the ceiling. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Reckon it’s safe enough for us to camp in for the night?” Leo asked, poking around the fountain.

“I’d rather not.”

Percy and Annabeth exchanged glances when they both uttered the same sentiment.

“Don’t think that I’ve forgotten about that talk you promised us,” Annabeth warned. “I may have gotten distracted but I’m not going to let it go.”

“She can’t hold it back anymore,” Apollo muttered, apparently incapable of allowing the opportunity to pass by.

“And don’t think we don’t want to know who he is as well,” Annabeth added, pointing at Apollo.

“Me?” Apollo glanced behind him, as if he was expecting someone other than who Percy now knew to call Mercury and Mercury’s abnormally large nose.

“Yes, you.” Annabeth nodded. “Do you think it escaped our notice that Icarus and Achilles seemed confused about who he was?”

“They were?” Jason asked Piper softly.

“News to me,” Piper muttered back.

“We can’t complete this Quest if we don’t start to trust each other,” Annabeth snapped. “I don’t care which god you’ve brought along for this, I just want to know that when it comes to a fight, he’ll have our backs.”

“Miss Chase, I’m more than happy to watch  _ several  _ of the backs in this room,” Apollo informed her with a bright smile. “Especially those belonging to pretty faces whose names begin with ‘B’ and end in ‘lue’.”

“You brought  _ Apollo _ ?” Thalia groaned, apparently identifying him from his inability to refrain from flirting. Percy stoically ignored the latter half of Apollo’s sentence.

“Our father insisted, dear cousin,” Apollo informed her, pushing down the hood and removing his mask. “Gods almighty, that feels better already.” He shook his hair out, combing it through with his fingers. “I’ve got hood hair and I don’t like it, anyone got a hairbrush? Preferably  _ not _ a blue one, they remind me all too well of the ones my Oracle likes to throw at members of the Pantheon she’s pissed off with.”

“He was only supposed to be staying with us to keep an eye on Nathan and help out if Kronos visited again,” Percy explained with a sigh, used to Apollo’s rambunctious personality that had seemingly left several people speechless. “It was your mother’s idea,” he directed at Annabeth.

“We were bringing Bellerophon, Patroclus, Lee, and Nico in a cloak back, we figured why not slide Apollo in there too.” Luke shrugged. 

“And he’s been living to irritate me ever since,” Nico muttered.

“You know I already did that, Moonshine,” Apollo laughed, having heard despite Nico’s attempt to keep the comment quiet.

“It made sense to bring him along because well, he’s a  _ god _ .” Percy shrugged. “A god who can help heal us, fight with us, and double as a clock in the Labyrinth.”

“I have  _ many _ uses,” Apollo purred, winking at him.

“And  _ that _ is the only reason why I hesitated.” Percy gestured to him. All of him.

“Oh Seashell, you love it really!” Apollo whined, crossing his arms. “You’ll miss me when we’re torn apart again, it’ll be like the sea when it is separated from the sun by the clouds; you’ll turn grey and cold, yearning for the rays of my smile to fall upon you once more.”

“He’s got a personal stake in this too,” Nico spoke up, putting an end to Apollo’s dramatic proclamations. “It’s not just me who wants Will back.”

“We all want him back,” Jason pointed out gently.

“He’s right,” Apollo sounded serious, his playful pout having melted away. “I’ve got a personal stake in this, though I didn’t know how personal it was until Blue found Nathan’s diary. At first, I figured I’d tag along and honour the Oath I made to Will about looking after Nico. Now I’m doing that and more. I want my son back.”

“And you?” Annabeth fixed her eyes on Percy. “Would you like to take the opportunity to be honest with us?”

“I don’t think you realise what you’re asking him to do,” Apollo spoke softly, defending Percy without hesitation. “I didn’t mind revealing that I was a god masquerading as a demigod because I only had something to gain from it; your trust and the ability to disappear for the check-ins my father has demanded from me without floundering for a ridiculous excuse. You’re asking Blue to drop the illusion he has been comfortable behind since crossing the borders of your camp and you’re taking away his ability to choose and control who has access to the knowledge of his identity.”

“Three of us are operating blindly here,” Annabeth argued. “We have to trust the word of the rest of you that Blue isn’t a threat when we haven’t been given the ability to gauge that ourselves. All we know is that he’s scared of his identity being revealed due to a negative response and he has lied and concealed to maintain that.”

“Annabeth-”

“Don’t Annabeth me, di Angelo.” Annabeth scowled at him. “If I didn’t know exactly how you feel about Will, I’d be operating under the assumption that the two of you are sleeping together. And honestly, I’m becoming less and less convinced.”

“That’s not fair.” Nico shook his head. “You just said it yourself, you know exactly how I feel about Will.”

“I don’t understand what else to think though Nico, that’s the point!” Annabeth argued. “Everything about him is a contradiction! One minute I think I’m figuring him out but then Luke unmasks himself and blows all of my previous assumptions out of the water. You know him, Jason knows him, Thalia knows him. Hades,  _ Grover  _ knows him! Even Rachel knew who he was just by looking at him and I don’t understand what I could be missing here. There’s nobody I can think of that fits the description of  _ him _ !” She pointed directly at Percy.

“You always did ignore the most obvious conclusions,” Percy informed her softly. He had no other alternative planned in this scenario, he didn’t know what else he could do. He reached up and removed his mask first, relying on the depths of the hood and the flickering of the torchlight to provide a cover of shadow. “Who do you think I am?”

“I don’t  _ know. _ ” Annabeth snarled desperately. “I can’t figure it out, you’re an enigma that I can’t solve.”

“Of all the people at camp, you were the one I was most worried about,” Percy informed her. “I thought you’d clock my identity before I got within five metres of you, but instead you stood by Nathan’s side and I passed by you without incident.”

“Do not say that I stood at his side like an idiot.” Annabeth retorted. “I may have stood there but he was the one who insinuated himself into my life, he was the one who came to stand by me when you entered our camp.”

“Tell me Annabeth, just how did Nathan  _ insinuate himself  _ into your life?” Percy asked, stepping closer.

“He manipulated me.” Annabeth shook her head. “Everyone knows what he did.”

“Enlighten me,” Percy requested. “Pretend I wasn’t there. Pretend I wasn’t there to see just how Nathan Burns insinuated himself into the life of Camp Half-Blood.”

“Were you there?” Annabeth asked.

“I was on the outside looking in,” Percy answered bitterly. “Or, at least, that’s what it felt like. I had to stand there and watch as Nathan strolled straight into my home and bulldozed everything I thought I had. I had to stand by and watch as my friendships dwindled, as my responsibilities were taken away and given to him. I had to stand and watch as the relationship I had worked so hard to build with my father receded swiftly like the tide before a tsunami.”

Annabeth had an expression of horror on her face, recognition flashing in her eyes.

“I had to stand by and watch you leave me as well.” Percy reached up and pushed down his hood. “Tell me, when did you even realise I was gone?”

  
  



	42. Reunions and the Ramblings of Rotten Soul.

“Percy?” Annabeth flinched back, as if the very sight of him had burnt her.

“Good to know I can still surprise you.” Percy nodded, though there was a slightly bitter edge to his tone that he couldn’t disguise. He didn’t know how to feel, emotions at war in his chest.

“You’ve certainly surprised me!” Hazel’s words were the only warning he was given before she collided with him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing so hard he thought he was about to be gifted a one-way ticket to visit her father. He ignored the fact that Annabeth was trying to make eye contact with him over Hazel’s shoulder, looking away and letting Hazel squeeze him to her heart’s content.

“Let the man breathe, Haze,” Frank chuckled as he came closer. Percy thought he was just going to observe until Hazel released him, so he was slightly surprised when Frank simply wrapped his arms around the two of them.

“You’re contradicting yourself,” Hazel informed him, slightly muffled from speaking into Percy’s shoulder, though her vice grip had thankfully scaled down from bone-breaking potential at Frank’s suggestion.

They both stepped back and gave Percy matching smiles.

“We were really the last to know, huh?” Frank commented when he registered the lack of shock on the faces of their other companions.

Percy ducked his head and felt slightly sheepish. “I was planning to talk to you but it’s been a bit hectic between your arrival in Camp and us leaving.”

“You don’t need to make excuses, man, I’m just happy to see you,” Frank assured him. “I can’t quite believe you’re here but I’m glad.”

“Ouch!” Percy yelped, rubbing his arm. He looked at Hazel who looked far too smug about the fact she had just punched him. “What was that for?”

“Do you realise how horrible it was when Nico turned up at Camp Jupiter looking like someone had stuck him in a microwave and pressed the ‘heat death’ button?” Hazel asked. “And then he was the one who had to inform us that you were gone?”

“We didn’t know if you were dead or alive, Perce.” Frank shook his head. “And that’s not a great state to live in.”

“When Zeus and Hades said they’d answer all questions about my disappearance, I didn’t expect them to fake the scene of a murder and leave it at that,” Percy confessed. “And apparently, between the God of Death and the God of Drama, they could make a career out of staging convincing crime scenes for procedural dramas.”

“We found Riptide, bathed in blood that we thought belonged to you,” Annabeth finally spoke up, her voice filled with distress. Percy stiffened as she spoke. “What else were we supposed to think?”

“You were only supposed to think I was gone, not that I was dead,” he answered without meeting her eyes. “I couldn’t stay and watch any longer, I didn’t want to wait around and see how many more people succumbed to Nathan’s charm.”

“Did you even think before you left?” Annabeth asked and Percy finally looked at her, shocked.

“I literally just explained that Zeus and Hades were the ones who set up the murder scene, I was already  _ long  _ gone when they came up with that idea.” Percy shook his head. “I left a few notes behind for the friends I still had, I thought that you’d all just figure I’d gone off to Alaska or somewhere else out of the eyes of the gods. I didn’t ask them to stage my death. I didn’t think that they would,” he held up his hand to show off the ring Hades gave him, “Hades gave me this. Any letter I seal with it, goes to him. He said if I wanted to send any letters home, send them to him and he’d find a way to pass them on. I didn’t think for a second that they’d fake my death!”

“You never do think, do you?” Annabeth threw at him.

“What?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t think to wait until things went back to normal?” Annabeth asked. “Because they did, a few weeks after you left. Well, it was as normal as it could get when we all thought you were  _ dead. _ ”

“Has it occurred to you that maybe things went back to normal because Nathan thought I was dead?” Percy pointed out.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Piper asked softly.

“You’ve all heard the Prophecy that Rachel apparently issued about Kronos, right?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

They all glanced at each other.

“ _ Son and Sword of the Sea,  _

_ Is the one who shall defeat thee.  _

_ Second victory he shall declare;  _

_ Against the Titan, Gaia’s heir.”  _ Percy recited, before looking to Apollo for reassurance . “Did I get that right? I only heard it from Kayla, never first-hand.”

“Word perfect, Seashell,” Apollo confirmed gently. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“The day Kronos visited and we headed to Olympus in the aftermath, I asked if me leaving could have been why they had the confidence to rise,” Percy recounted. “Hades pointed out that there was a strong possibility that the other side had heard that Prophecy long before Rachel issued it in Camp and that was why they had Nathan pose as a Son of Poseidon because then he would be in close proximity to me.”

“So Nathan could what, drive you insane?” Leo asked.

“Murder me,” Percy corrected simply.

Several pairs of eyes widened.

He shrugged. “At least, that was Hades’ working theory,” he started to explain. “He suggested that Nathan was posing as Poseidon’s son to place us in close proximity and therefore facilitate me ‘leaving’ camp. I just happened to actually leave before he could murder me and fake my disappearance.”

“That makes sense,” Annabeth agreed quietly. “It would have been easier for him to fake being Hades’ son, we’ve both seen Nico and Hazel display limited control over earth.”

“He put the same thing in his diary, that it would have been easier for him to display powers similar to Hazel,” Percy nodded before grinning. “He also called Nico cute in the same paragraph.”

“Tell me he didn’t?” Nico recoiled. “ _ Seriously _ ?”

“How much of this diary of his have you read?” Hazel asked, sounding curious.

“Not much,” Percy admitted. “It’s hard with the, y’know, dyslexia. It’s slow going. I mean, I read the first few paragraphs and then flicked through to see if he’d written anything about how they resurrected Octavian, which is how I discovered what they had done to Will but other than that, I’ve not read much of it at all.”

“Do you think there’s any hints in it pertaining to the identity of the missing god?” Icarus raised an eyebrow. “Or perhaps, an insight into where they may be headed?”

“Apollo can help me examine it later,” Percy glanced at the god. “You can actually read, right?”

“I’m flattered you want my help.” Apollo winked at him.

“Ten of us have dyslexia.” Percy deadpanned.

“What about the Legacy?” Apollo tilted his head, trying to count the number of demigods around him. “There’s eleven of you here, Seashell?”

“That number includes the Legacy,” Icarus chuckled.

Apollo’s confusion only grew.

“Frank used to be a Spelling Bee Champion,” Percy took pity on him and answered the question Apollo was obviously about to ask. He realised then that he could have asked Frank to help him with the diary, but he figured that Apollo would want to scour it for information about Will anyway. “But you’ll want to read it anyway, right?”

“I’ll be more than happy to offer you my services.” Apollo winked at him once again.

“Do you have something in your eye?” Percy asked.

Apollo stared at him for a moment, confusion flickering in said eyes once more. “No?” He responded, soundly slightly unsure.

“It’s just that you keep blinking funny, like you’re trying to get something out of it,” Percy informed him cheerily.

“The only thing wrong with my eyes is that you aren’t gazing into them,” Apollo recovered swiftly, winking  _ again _ .

Someone cleared their throat, forcing their attention back to their surroundings.

“This is so much weirder now that we know who he is,” Thalia muttered, looking slightly mystified. “Do you actually flirt with everything that breathes?”

“Me?” Percy asked, alarmed.

“No, Kelphead,  _ him _ .” Thalia rolled her eyes and gestured to Apollo. “You know, the god that keeps flirting with you?”

“Honestly, I just pretend that it’s the way he talks to everyone,” Percy confessed.

“Oh Seashell, it may be the way I speak to nearly everyone,” Apollo purred. “But you’re  _ special _ .”

“I think I just threw up slightly in my mouth,” Piper mumbled before speaking up. “Does that ever actually work for you?”

“My success rates haven’t been the best in recent times,” Apollo admitted, starting to pout. “There’s not much flirting that can be done when you’re spending the majority of your time with your kids and your kid’s boyfriend. Percy being around has been a breath of fresh air.”

“He’s easier to put up with when he’s happy.” Percy shrugged.

“It doesn’t bother you in the slightest?” Piper asked. “There’s nobody on your team that would be upset by it?”

“Pipes, is that just a roundabout way of asking if I’m dating any of my team?” Percy raised an eyebrow and ignored the soft intake of breath that he heard from Annabeth’s general location. “How did we even get here?”

“Well, are you?” Piper narrowed her eyes at him.

“You are avoiding the subject,” Hazel pointed out, nodding along with Piper. “We just want to know what you’ve been up to for the last five years.”

“Can we please go back to arguing about why I left?” Percy groaned and looked to the ceiling as if it could provide godly aid. Unfortunately, the only godly aid to hand was stood trying to hide laughter behind his own hand.

“Now that was subject avoidance if I ever did see it.” Apollo smirked at him.

“I’m not dating anyone, okay?” Percy finally answered, realising that he had probably just created more issues for himself by playing around the topic instead of issuing a flat denial. He classed his team as family; he wouldn’t date any of them, let alone Luke - which seemed to be the common assumption. No, Luke was a friend and a brother. Dating was currently the last thing on his mind anyway, he wanted to focus on rekindling the relationships with his family and friends that he’d left behind. “Now, are we continuing or resting here for the night?”

“I think it’s safe to say that any attempt to continue would just be delayed by questions,” Luke spoke up. “So we may as well settle down and figure out a watch system.”

Everyone split and started to move around the room, claiming space.

Percy turned, intent on placing himself in one of the corners where he could watch the entire room and have a clear line of sight. Someone caught his sleeve and pulled him back.

“Percy?” Annabeth asked softly. “Can we talk?”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea right now,” Percy responded, shaking his head. He plastered on a false smile and pulled his arm out of her grip. “Just give me a little bit longer, okay? We’ll talk eventually, but I can’t right now.”

He could see Luke and Nico hovering at a distance, everyone purposefully keeping up conversations and avoiding looking their way.

Annabeth’s returning smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Okay,” her voice was soft as she acknowledged his words, backing off. “Let me know when you want to talk. I owe you an apology and an explanation.”

She walked away, to the other side of the room, before he could respond and he didn’t want to call after her. Instead he sunk into the corner of the room that he was claiming, Luke, Nico, Apollo, and Icarus slinking over to join him.

“You alright?” Nico asked, sitting down beside him.

“I don’t know,” Percy admitted, ripping his gaze from the other side of the room. “I thought I’d have more time before she knew who I was.”

“I’m honestly surprised that she hadn’t guessed,” Luke admitted.

“I think seeing how we interacted really threw her, because last time she saw us together, we weren’t exactly holding hands and skipping off into the sunset of Best-Friend-Forever Land,” Percy pointed out. “But honestly, I agree. She was the person I was most concerned about figuring it out.”

“She’s going to want to talk before we’re back at camp,” Luke warned. “She may have backed off because you asked just then, but you know she won’t let you avoid it for long.”

“I know,” Percy sighed. “Can we just talk about something else?”

After they’d eaten and everyone was spread around the room in sleeping bags, Percy pulled Nathan’s diary out of his bag. He unwrapped it from the t-shirt he’d used to separate it from the rest of the items he had shoved inside the backpack he had brought down into the Maze, glancing up when he felt a presence beside him. Apollo had shuffled over to sit beside him, a bright smile on his face.

“Where are we starting then?” Apollo asked, gesturing to the book in his hands. He moved a little closer, setting a hand on the ground behind Percy and leaning the warm length of his chest against Percy’s arm so he could get a better look at the diary he was supposed to be reading to the son of Poseidon. “I’m sure it’s going to be an enlightening read.”

“Unfortunately, since we don’t know  _ when  _ the god went missing, we’re going to have to start at the very beginning,” Percy admitted, making a face. “Which is where I originally did start, but then I skipped through until I found the section about resurrecting Octavian.”

“Do you think it happened before or after he brought Octavian back?” Apollo asked. His voice was soft out of consideration for the majority of the room that was asleep, Jason and Leo taking watch from their spot in the middle of the mosaic.

“I don’t really know,” Percy admitted. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say  _ before _ , but I may be wrong.”

“You think a god has been missing for around five years and none of us have noticed?” Apollo shifted so he could sit back in his original position and raise an eyebrow at Percy’s suggestion.

“Pan was missing for how long and none of you knew how to find him?” Percy raised his own eyebrow right back.

Apollo ducked his head. “Point taken.”

“There’s some gods that probably haven’t even noticed that five years have passed.” Percy continued.

“I just can’t think of whoever could be missing!” Apollo groaned, looking frustrated. He kept his volume low, gesticulating wildly with his hands as he spoke instead. “You’re looking at one of the primary sources of gossip on Olympus. The only people who know what’s occurring on Olympus better than I do are Hermes and Aphrodite. Oh, and Pheme, but that’s because she is literally the goddess of rumours and gossip. Eros is an expert on relationships but that’s as far as his interests go. Oh! And-”

“Apollo, I get the picture,” Percy laughed, gently cutting the god off. He knew that he would often ramble until the cows came home, but Apollo could probably ramble until his sacred cattle decided to beg Hermes to steal them again for some respite. “There’s a circle of you on Olympus that gossip more than the Aphrodite Cabin.”

“Aphy’s kids are unrivalled,” Apollo declared seriously. “Shall we take a look at this then?” He reached over and tapped the cover of the diary to emphasise his suggestion. 

“There’s no time like the present,” Percy pointed out and opened it to the first page.

**_Dear Diary,_ **

**_Nathan Burns here, reporting for duty :)_ **

**_Mom insisted that today was the day I flew the nest and headed to Camp Half-Blood…_ **

****

**_…He’s going to have to go, I genuinely can’t cope with him. I’m going to have to like, kiss his girlfriend or something which I’m going to hate since I haven’t kissed a girl since Nancy kissed me when I went to Yancy for 9_ ** **_th_ ** **_Grade._ **

****

“That’s where I read up to.” Percy pointed to the point on the page, identifying it with a laugh as he recalled the mental image of Nancy kissing Nathan. “I had to stop reading there because I was laughing so much at the mental image.”

“The mental image of Nathan kissing a girl?” Apollo raised an eyebrow.

“Nathan kissing that particular girl,” Percy clarified.

“Friend of yours?” Apollo sounded mildly confused.

“I went to Yancy for 6 th Grade,” Percy explained to the god. “Nancy Bobofit had a reputation for sticking heads down toilets, stealing lunches and anything else she could get her hands on, and for having freckles that looked like they had been sprayed on with liquid Cheetos.”

“She sounds delightful,” Apollo responded mildly.

“A national treasure,” Percy informed him dryly.

“Let’s see what else we can uncover about our other national treasure.”

**_I know Mommy wants me to kill him, but I don’t think I can cope being his cabin-mate for that long and it’s not like I can just kill him after only turning up a few days ago because how suspicious would that look? He’s just so sickeningly nice all of the time and I just want him to go and die. It would make my life sooo much easier. The only reason I had to come here was because of that stupid prophecy the Phineas dude told my mom about last time he was alive, something about how only Percy could kill Kronos. I don’t quite get_ ** **_why_ ** **_it has to be now when we haven’t even raised him yet and my mom is still a dirt face. It would totally make things easier to lure him on a Quest as well and have all three of them ‘tragically’ die instead of going to all of this effort._ **

****

“I bet you’re seriously feeling the love right now,” Apollo snorted, taking a break from softly narrating the passage aloud. He’d shifted closer again in order to get a clearer view, a soft and warm weight against Percy’s shoulder as he gently poked him to signal that Percy should turn the page. Percy should have probably just handed over the diary but he liked being able to try and follow along as Apollo quietly recited it aloud for him.

“I knew he wanted to kill me but I didn’t know how much,” Percy joked. “I thought the hatred started when I told him that he’d have to join the Beginner’s Class that all of the Under-10s were in for sword fighting and he told me that he had fencing lessons since he started to walk. I asked him if his tutors were paid off by his mother to tell him that he was good.”

“Harsh,” Apollo whistled, though he was shaking with barely concealed laughter.

“He couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag,” Percy stated dryly. “I maintain that Gaia paid them to lie to him.”

“Hopefully we’ll be able to apprehend him quite easily then,” Apollo declared before focusing his attention back on the newly turned page.

**_I’ve been here for two weeks now and I’m bored out of my skull. I wish Tavy was still alive because being here would actually give me an excuse to meet him. Instead I have to suffer the sight of the Hades cutie thinking that him and one of Apollo’s spawn thinking they’re being secretive about their little relationship-_ **

****

“Gods of Olympus, I want to throttle him,” Apollo broke off again to express his displeasure.

“Welcome to the club. I think Nico has taken my position as Chairman,” Percy laughed. “He’s going to hate Nathan even more for finding him cute.”

“Imagine if Nathan had tried to date Nico instead of Annabeth.” Apollo sounded horrified before letting out a wistful chuckle. “I think Will would have single-handedly drop-kicked him into the Campfire if he’d even dared to try and flirt with him.”

“Nathan would have had to blackmail Eros himself into making Nico have feelings for Nathan,” Percy pointed out. Nico made a soft noise in his sleep nearby, as if he knew they were talking about him.

Apollo tensed immediately, looking at Nico with concern. “Do you think he’s having a nightmare?” He bit his lip.

“He said he had nightmares last night,” Percy admitted. “I don’t think he’s having one now but we’ll wake him if that changes.”

“I’m worried about him,” Apollo sighed, their task forgotten. “He’s so young and he’s been through so much.”

“I’m worried about him too,” Percy confessed, shaking his head. “Part of me wishes that I could actually lie to him. I can’t help but think about what will happen if Nathan’s information turns out to be wrong and we can’t bring Will back and all I can think is ‘what if I hadn’t told him’ because then he wouldn’t have known if it doesn’t work out.”

“Percy, if that happens, I’m going to need you to swear you’ll take him with you when you go.” Apollo fixed him with a steady gaze. “I’m praying to the rest of the gods in the Pantheon that this all works out, but if we can’t bring back Will… I don’t think Nico would be able to cope with losing you too. I’d be sad to see you go - both of you go that is - but it would be worth it in the long run if it meant keeping Nico happy.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Percy declared. “And I’m going to do everything in my power to stay. But if it comes to it, I’ll take him with me.”

“I’d ask you to swear an Oath on the Styx but…” Apollo let out a hollow laugh. “We all know how well they work out.”

“I’ll take him with me,” Percy repeated. “If I have to go, that is. If not, you’re stuck with us.”

“Good.” Apollo’s tone was fierce. Then his face softened and he tapped the neglected page. “Shall we?”

**_Mommy is planning something big and it’s totally unfair because she won’t tell me what._ ** **_I’m_ ** **_supposed to be one of her top strategists but apparently I’m too much of a ‘gossip’ to trust the sensitive issue with. Sure, I love gossip just as much as the next guy – Tanner is one of my best friends for Aphrodite’s sake, if I didn’t love gossip, he’d throw me in the campfire for sure – but I can keep a secret! All I can get from mom is that she’s going to be waiting until next summer to carry out her plan – apparently the disappearance of Percy Jackson isn’t an achievement to be overshadowed, which is thoroughly understandable. After all, it will be_ ** **_my_ ** **_actions that rid us of his presence._ **

****

“Gods above, he’s an obnoxious little prick isn’t he?” Apollo scrunched up his face, unimpressed.

“Isn’t he!” Percy couldn’t resist the small outburst before guiltily looking around to see if he had woken anyone. He lowered his voice again before continuing. “I felt like I was the only one who could see it when he first came to Camp. Everyone was fawning over him and he was lavishing in the attention. He’d come back to the Cabin and talk about himself and what he’d done that day and how many friends he had made. I tried so hard to like him but all he ever talked about was  _ himself  _ and it was so frustrating.”

“I know I’m notorious for being a little bit self-centred, after all the universe does revolve around  _ me _ , but I would tire of talking about myself for eternity,” Apollo stated earnestly. Percy couldn’t help the laughter that the statement invoked. “Oi!” Apollo pouted, lightly flicking at his shoulder blade. “Stop laughing at me, I’m being serious! I like to talk about other things, not just myself.”

“I would pay to see you go toe to toe with some of my old physics teachers and explain to them that the big ball of gas theory was made up because your sister called you an airhead,” Percy chuckled, shaking his head.

“When I’m bored I like to argue with idiots on the internet about conspiracy theories. I like to send Flat-Earthers pictures I’ve taken from the Sun Chariot and laugh as they demand to know the name of my source in NASA and how much I pay for editing software a month.” Apollo grinned at him. “Your old physics teachers would be a walk in the park.”

“You are one of the strangest gods I’ve ever met.” Percy rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t help but speak in a teasing tone.

“We’ll I’m  _ also  _ the god helping you read this self-absorbed idiot’s diary,” Apollo huffed and tapped said diary for emphasis. “And honestly, Seashell, from you, I’d take that as a compliment.”

“You’re not doing much reading now, are you?” Percy retorted cheekily, smiling at him.

“Because I was going to say that we can obviously skip some of the absolute drivel he wrote about hating Camp and missing his boyfriend and move to the fun part,” Apollo pointed out.

“You realise what he’s going to talk about, right?” Percy bit his lip, making no move to flick through the diary.

“I know.” Apollo nodded. “I’m a big boy.”

Percy nodded and flicked through until he found the date that camp would have started.

**_This summer is going to be_ ** **_big_ ** **_. We think we’ve found a way to bring Tavy back, even though my mom keeps denying my requests. If she won’t bring him back for me, fine. I’ll bring him back myself. While Camp was quiet during the school term, we took the liberty of borrowing some of the books from the attic that Chiron has always banned us from reading._ **

**_And reading them, I understand why. The price of bringing back a loved one is high. But the price to bring Octavian back is one that I would always pay. Even if I have to kill somebody else to do it. Mom won’t approve, she doesn’t want me doing anything that could piss off the Fates, but what she won’t know until it’s too late for her to change won’t hurt her. She’s busy anyway, organising whatever she’s doing that she won’t tell me about. Not that I care, this is going to be_ ** **_my_ ** **_summer. My summer of_ ** **_love_ ** **_._ **

****

“It baffles me how he can be so blasé about killing someone,” Apollo murmured. “Especially when I know that he was talking about Will.”

“It gets worse,” Percy admitted softly, wanting to provide Apollo with some warning about what was to come. He felt bad for asking him to read it now, feeling as though he should have given the god the opportunity to read the words himself before having to say them aloud for Percy to hear as he reacted to them.

“No shit.” Apollo winced.

**_We found the perfect ritual. The only issue is, we’ll be bringing the eyes of both Hades and Apollo to Camp. Hades because of a suspicious death, Apollo because it’ll be one of his brats that they’ll be lighting the shroud for._ **

_ Under full moon light, _

_ Exchange the souls in the dead of night. _

_ Blood for blood, _

_ Blood matched through parenthood. _

_ A life given to return a love taken, _

_ Burn the body, reborn from ash, _

_ Your love shall reawaken. _

**_Octavian is a legacy of Apollo. ‘Blood matched through parenthood’… We’ve got an entire Cabin of Apollo’s brats to choose from and I know exactly which one witnessed Tavy’s death. Will fucking Solace, di Angelo’s little love affair. A dangerous choice some may say, but we all think that di Angelo will be too wrapped up in his own grief to notice if the circumstances of Will’s death are suspicious._ **

****

“I don’t think I can read anymore of this,” Apollo declared, shaking his head. “Not right now.”

Percy nodded and closed the diary, wrapping it back in his t-shirt and shoving it into his bag. He opened his mouth to speak, wanting to offer Apollo some form of comfort - possibly in the form of a hug or a literal shoulder to cry on - but was interrupted.

“Perce?” The whisper came from across the room, Jason and Leo eyeing them.

“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow.

“What time is it?” Leo asked. 

It was really aimed at Apollo, who considered his answer for a moment. “It’s just after midnight. You two go to sleep, it’s our turn to take watch.”

“Thanks,” Jason acknowledged with a nod.

Leo just grinned at them.

“You go to sleep too,” Apollo nudged him after they watched the other two lie down and start to drift off.

“What about-”

“God, remember?” Apollo cut him off. “You’ll be the first one I wake at any sign of danger, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?” Percy bit his lip.

“Go to sleep,” Apollo urged. “Why bring a god if you’re not going to take advantage of him? In a decidedly non-fun way since you keep turning down my offers for the fun way.”

“I’m going to sleep,” Percy declared. “Thanks, Apollo.”

“Night Percy. Sweet dreams.”

When Percy woke up, it was to Apollo shaking his shoulder.

Percy’s hand immediately went to where Stormbringer was lying innocuously by his head, about to flick the lighter before Apollo’s hand closed around his.

“Hey, no, sorry if I scared you,” Apollo stopped him from transforming his sword. “Everything is okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Percy asked, frowning. The god looked like a wreck, his hair dishevelled as if he had been raking his hands through it all night and there was a look of manic panic in his eyes.

“I’ve got a theory,” Apollo bit his lip. “But I need to go back to Olympus to check.”

“A theory about what?” Percy asked, his brain slowing down once it had perceived there was no threat.

“You really can’t function in the morning, can you?” Apollo teased. “The missing god, Seashell, that’s who I’m on about.”

“I knew that,” Percy lied.

“I’ll be gone a few hours at most, honest.” Apollo assured him. “If you don’t mind me going?”

Percy considered for a second, biting his lip. He didn’t want to lose Apollo when they hadn’t even been in the Maze for twenty-four hours, but he also knew that whatever had Apollo in such a state had to be serious. “Go.” He nodded, knowing he had no other option. “We’ll be fine.”

  
  



	43. Exit, Pursued by a 'Pissed Off Rat'.

As Percy had been packing his bag he had noticed that Nathan’s diary had been shoved in a different way than he had packed it away, realising that Apollo had probably spent the night looking through it without him. It unsettled him slightly, knowing that Apollo had found enough to send him to Olympus in a panic, but he had no idea what Apollo could have found. He made no mention of it to any of the others, not sure if they had even registered Apollo’s absence in their early morning haze.

It was only when everyone was awake and ready to continue that the fact  _ they  _ were missing a god was noticed.

“Where’s Apollo?” Icarus stilled by the doorway he was about to lead him through, concern flickering over his features as he searched the faces behind him.

“Apollo had to go to Olympus,” Percy informed them, not knowing what to say when he wasn’t overly sire of the reasoning himself. “He had a theory about the god we’re looking for and he went to go and check. He’ll be back in a few hours.”

“How in the name of Ares’ sweaty gym shirts will he find us?” Leo asked, looking stunned. “We can’t exactly hang around in here waiting for him.”

“He granted me custody of his favourite necklace,” Percy gently lifted the delicate gold chain from beneath his shirt; the attached ring of gold gleaming around the thin circle of resin that preserved the pressed hyacinth flower, its deep blue colour alike to a precious gem. It had been warm to the touch when Apollo had insisted on looping it around his neck and doing the clasp for him, arguing that it would be difficult for Percy to do himself. “So he’ll be able find us.”

Apollo had explained that the necklace was something he kept close to his heart - figuratively and literally - and he would be able to track its location when separated from it because it carried enough of his signature for it to work. He’d been reluctant to part with the necklace before sighing and saying it would be easier than them having to leave a trail for him to follow, admitting that he was glad it would be in some of the safest hands he knew.

“He never takes that off.” Nico’s eyes widened, looking slightly stunned.

“So he’ll be able to track it quite easily,” Percy pointed out as he tucked the necklace back beneath his t-shirt, away from prying eyes. “Let’s go, we’ve lingered here for too long.”

The further they progressed, the longer it took for Icarus to make decisions about which way to lead them.

“What’s wrong?” Percy eventually slipped to the front of the group, having been positioned at the tail end with Riptide in hand - just in case.

“I don’t know,” Icarus responded frustratedly. “It was so easy to navigate yesterday, the directions were bright and clear. Now it is as if someone is flicking the light switch on and off and leaving it off for an increasing length of time.”

“Well that isn’t good,” Leo stated the obvious.

“Percy?” Nico called from the back of the group. “Come back here a second.”

“Just do your best.” Percy smiled at Icarus. He stood by as everyone filed past, waiting until Thalia and Leo had passed him so he could raise an eyebrow at Nico.

Nico grabbed his elbow and held him back a second, both of them giving Leo false smiles as he glanced over his shoulder and gestured for him to continue.

“Were you going to tell us that we’re being followed or not?” Nico hissed, eyes flashing.

“Apollo being gone and Icarus struggling to direct us is bad enough without me adding to everyone else’s concerns,” Percy pointed out. “Why do you think I was walking with Riptide already in my hand?”

“This is bad,” Nico declared.

“It’s not like I can do anything when I don’t know how far behind it is,” Percy argued. “Or what it is. It could be Nathan and Octavian for all I know.”

“It’s going to catch up and catch up  _ soon  _ if Icarus keeps stumbling at every turn.” Nico shook his head.

“We could collapse it.” Percy gestured to the tunnel they had just exited. “It would delay whatever it is, it would either have to dig through it or-”

Nico didn’t allow him to finish, opening a fissure in the roof of the tunnel. An avalanche of dirt and rocks poured through, slamming down and breaking the quiet of the Labyrinth.

“Nic!” Percy yelped when Nico staggered unexpectedly, shoving a hand out blindly to connect with the wall to steady himself.

“I’m fine,” Nico declared, shaking his head and straightening.

“I didn’t ask if you were okay, you’re obviously not.” Percy frowned. “You could have let me do that, my dad has the title of ‘Earthshaker’, remember?”

“You were taking too long,” Nico retorted. “I’ll be fine in a minute, I swear. I’ve just not been sleeping well.”

“If you’re sure,” Percy responded reluctantly, allowing Nico to grab his arm and pretend he was dragging Percy along when he was actually using Percy as support.

“Dare we ask what the loud bang we heard before you two appeared was?” Thalia asked when they caught up with the group, everyone glancing back at them curiously.

“Nico freaked out because he thought he saw a rat,” Percy lied with a sunny smile. “He decided to collapse the tunnel roof on the damn thing. I still maintain it was just his shadow.”

“Are you trying to say my shadow looks like a rat?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “Which would imply  _ I  _ look like a rat.”

“Would I ever say such a thing?” Percy asked.

They all heard the roar of anger that echoed around the tunnels.

“Sounds like one pissed off rat,” Thalia informed them dryly.

“You know how rats get.” Percy shrugged. “One minute they’re pulling your hair and teaching you how to cook, or hosting a beloved children’s horrible history show, and the next they’re transforming into the man who betrayed your parents and acting as the Dark Lord’s right hand. Or was it his left one that he cut off?”

“I don’t think that matters right now,” Nico declared. “We might want to get a move on.”

“What Nico said.” Percy gestured to him. “Run!”

Eventually their luck of simple, one-way turns ran out. 

Percy knew that whatever was tailing them had broken through the barrier they had caused. Whatever it was, it was no longer content to follow at a sedate pace. No, now it was chasing them.

“Icarus, you need to choose!” Percy yelled as the last one to skid into the chamber where Icarus was agonising between two doorways.

“Left!” Icarus declared, breaking into a run towards it.

Halfway to the door, Percy couldn’t help but notice that one of the tiles in the centre of the cave had sunk slightly in comparison to those surrounding it. As he shifted his gaze upwards, he realised that it was a pressure plate.

The doorway Icarus had led them through was closing.

“Go!” Percy yelled as Jason halted, about to go through. “We’ll find you.”

Jason slipped through the remaining gap before it sealed shut.

Percy, Nico, Thalia, and Leo were trapped on the other side.

“We need to keep moving,” Percy declared, glancing worriedly over his shoulder. “Whatever is following us, it sounds big and angry.”

“You don’t want to stand and fight?” Thalia asked. “That door may reopen.”

“And what if it doesn’t?” Nico shook his head. “We’re sitting ducks if we stand around and wait for everything in this Labyrinth to find us.”

Percy ushered the three of them down the other tunnel, sending one final wistful glance at the stone that sealed the other one before running after them.

There was silence between them, other than the sound of footsteps and breathing. None of them wanted to be the ones to point out that if they didn’t miraculously find the rest of the group, they would likely end up lost down here – unless they stumbled upon an exit.

Percy half wished that they ran out onto Geryon’s Ranch.

“I swear there was not this much running involved on the way to Greece!” Leo complained eventually, stopping and raising his hands in a ‘T’ for timeout.

Percy halted, though reluctant. He could see that there was a toll being taken on the rest of them – Nico looked deathly pale and was taking the opportunity to lean against the wall.

“Maybe the door opened and it went the other way?” Thalia suggested, trying to provide some comfort.

There was an echoing roar that answered her.

The four of them exchanged looks and started to run again.

They skidded to a halt as they entered the room they had just exited, the left door still sealed. Percy identified the pressure plate in the centre of the room, still sunken in place. He mentally prayed to whatever gods were listening that the tile would miraculously pop up and the door would slide open again but he doubted that they would have any such luck.

“We just ran in a massive circle,” Thalia groaned, looking between the corridor that they had just exited and the one that they’d ran through to escape whatever was chasing them. “Why didn’t we just stay put?”

“We didn’t know it would lead us in a circle,” Percy sighed. “Leo, have you got a weapon?”

Leo didn’t have time to answer before they heard the thunderous footsteps that had been following them echoing from the passage that they had entered this room through twice now.

Then the Minotaur came crashing into the room.

“ _ Seriously _ ?” Percy couldn’t help but whine when he saw the monster. “I’ve fought you twice now, can’t you just chill in Tartarus for eternity already? Moo-ve on, please.”

“If you actually just said what I think you just said, I’m going to stab you myself, Kelphead,” Thalia warned.

The Minotaur had stopped for a moment to evaluate them, his beady eyes scanning over them. And when they landed on Percy, his nostrils flared. Percy flicked his own eyes over the beast, taking in every detail and trying to account for any weaknesses. The Minotaur was wearing thick leather armour, similar to what he had been wearing during the fight on Williamsburg Bridge, but it seemed like he had learned to wear a breastplate this time around. From the waist downwards he was wearing his leather kilt, the fringes stilling when he halted. Percy hoped that he wasn’t wearing the kilt in the traditional Scottish way, because that was  _ not _ a sight he wanted to see. Unfortunately the armour protected him far more than what he was wearing during their first encounter.

Percy half wished that the Minotaur was only wearing his white Fruit of the Loom underwear again.

“Does this dude ever wash?” Leo stage whispered. “He does realise that Apollo’s sacred lady cows won’t be attracted to the odor of literal BS?”

“Really not the time, Leo,” Nico hissed, slowly unsheathing his sword as the Minotaur simply stood and watched them. “Tell me you have a weapon to hand?”

Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out a hammer.

“Not going to work well against this guy!” Percy warned, feeling pretty unnerved as the monster’s eyes flicked between each one of them. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter, tossing it over to Leo.

“Dude, I can make fire with my hands?” Leo frowned.

“It’s Stormbringer Leo, you’ve seen her before!” Percy groaned. “Just flick the button.”

The flash of gold seemed to snap the Minotaur out of his trance and he let out a roar, slapping the handle of his axe into his other meaty palm. It was the same axe he had wielded on the Bridge, Camp Half-Blood necklaces tied around the shaft. The sight still made Percy stomach turn slightly, hoping that this was the first time the Minotaur had reformed since he’d turned to dust on the way down to the river and he hadn’t had the opportunity to add to his twisted collection. He took a step toward Leo.

“Hey, Ground Beef!” Percy yelled. “Over here, you great ugly-”

He had to duck to avoid the swing, the Minotaur’s attention now on him instead of Leo. He let out an angry roar as Percy rolled out of the way, followed by an even angrier one as Thalia pierced his shoulder with a silver arrow.

“Should have worn sleeves instead of cutting them off!” Percy taunted, deliberately trying to keep the beast’s attention on him so it would start going after his friends.

“No, seriously, does he ever wash?” Leo asked.

“He smells like rancid beef, we know!” Nico responded trying to sneak around the Minotaur’s back as Percy held his attention at the front. 

“Honestly, I was thinking more like the contents of a dead cow's stomach when it has been mixed with pig faeces and the fleece of a goat with diarrhoea and left in the middle of the Sahara Desert for a month.” Leo rambled.

Unfortunately, the Minotaur didn’t care about Percy anymore.

“Leo!” Nico screamed as the Minotaur barrelled toward him, horns lowered.

Thalia reached out and grabbed Leo, yanking him out of the way before the Minotaur could gore him.

“Dionysus’ receding hairline!” Leo yelped, throwing a ball of fire at the monster.

Percy held his breath, not knowing what the beast’s reaction to fire would be. He let out a pained roar before scouting the room for Leo and narrowing his beady eyes. Leo had just made himself a permanent target.

“Leo, keep out of the way!” Percy warned. “He’s going to want to go after you for that.”

“Well done Valdez, you’ve just got the attention of a raging monster,” Leo muttered to himself, hoping that dodging around the room would keep him away from the beast.

“Thals, you try and hit it with more arrows!” Nico directed. “Percy, try and distract it!”

“Walking Big Mac!” Percy yelled immediately. “Remember me? I’ve killed you twice now!”

He heard Nico snort from across the room.

The Minotaur swung his head back towards him, nostrils flaring.

“That’s right, smell your old pal Percy,” Percy invited, despite feeling ridiculous. He knew exactly where he was standing though and a familiar idea popped into his head. “Beef Boy!”

The Minotaur lowered his horns, charging at him. He darted out of the way, much like he had planned to when he had waved his raincoat in front of what he now knew to be Thalia’s tree, but this time he actually pulled off the maneuverer and a sickening crack reverberated around the room as the horn he had been angling towards Percy’s chest connected with the stone that was sealing the left passageway.

The horn broke, half of it falling to the ground. The axe fell from his grip too, flung out of reach and he made no attempt to move after it.

“Moo?” The Minotaur sounded slightly stunned, but unfortunately it didn’t slow him. He swung around again, charging towards Leo and Thalia.

It was like watching a car crash and not being able to do anything to stop it. They didn’t look before they started to move, so when Thalia moved to her left and Leo to his right, they collided. And then the Minotaur used his remaining horn to sweep them both into the air, Leo letting out a pained scream. Thalia’s head connected with the wall with a crack that was just as sickening as the one they had heard as the Minotaur’s horn broke only moments before her body crumpled and she fell to the floor. Leo landed beside her, the force of the fall and the way his head connected with the floor knocking him out cold, Stormbringer falling from his limp hand.

Percy and Nico looked at each other, frantic.

“No!” Percy yelled as Nico started to run for the two prone forms of their friends.

The Minotaur’s attention was focused on the moving target, trying to swing his horn in a manner that would gore Nico if it connected. Nico was forced to dive to avoid it, his sword thrown from his hand. Percy moved towards them as the Minotaur seemed intent on trampling Nico if he couldn’t gore him, getting a perfect view of the way Nico’s hand closed around the broken piece of horn before he thrust it upwards, into the Minotaur’s chest.

As he dissipated into particles of gold, Nico let out an exhausted sigh, dropping back down onto the ground.

“Are you okay?” Percy hauled him up swiftly, Nico tossing the bloodied horn aside. It lay on the ground, glistening with blood, as a macabre trophy. It was no consolation prize for the state their friends were in.

“I’m fine, it’s Leo and Thalia we need to check on,” Nico hissed, pressing a hand to his ribs and wincing.

Nico brushed off his offer of support, stumbling across the room to where their two friends lay prone. Percy followed him, reaching instinctively to clutch at Apollo’s necklace in the hope it would summon divine intervention. He wanted nothing more to have the god there with them as he looked at the injuries Thalia and Leo were sporting, knowing that he and Nico needed nothing short of a miracle to heal them.

  
  



	44. Nico di Angelo, Star of The Sixth Sense.

Luke bit his lip as Icarus took them down yet another path he wasn’t fully certain of, the Legacy of Athena quietly cursing the Maze for tricking them into thinking his navigation skills worked. He knew there was nothing he could do to help, knew that any words of encouragement would seem hollow.

He was also aware that Icarus was still pretending that it was not as big of a problem as it seemed, obviously wanting to hide the truth from the rest of the group. His hesitations were getting longer, some paths taken before he’d even made a decision, but he was still leading the group with what the others perceived as confidence. Unfortunately, Luke knew Icarus’s masks well enough to know that the Legacy was worried out of his mind and leading them blind.

“Do you think they’re okay?” Annabeth was the one that broke the deathly silence that had fallen over them once they had agreed it would be for the best to carry on moving. There was clear concern in her voice and Luke couldn’t help but wonder which member of the group they’d left behind she was most worried about.

“We can only hope that the door they went through closed behind them and whatever was following us couldn’t go after them,” Piper sounded troubled, her hopes having no conviction behind them. “What do you think was following us?”

“Down here?” Luke turned to raise an eyebrow at her. He was intimately familiar with the horrors the old iteration of the Labyrinth had to offer, having utilised the Maze to his advantage when he was on the opposing force. He was also aware that they were standing in a new iteration of the Maze, one that had been revitalised by the mother of one of its most notorious monsters; notorious herself for her hatred of demigods. This was not a safe place for them. “I wouldn’t like to say.”

“Maybe it was Nathan?” Hazel suggested, though she didn’t sound convinced by her own words.

“Between them, they’re a pretty formidable skillset,” Frank pointed out, trying to lift spirits. “Percy and Nico are two of the best sword-fighters I’ve ever met, Thalia is  _ mean  _ with a bow and arrow and Leo is a real-life Johnny Storm.”

“Honestly, if I was a monster, I’d be running  _ from  _ them, not  _ after  _ them.” Jason nodded along to what Frank was saying. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“This way!” Icarus declared, interrupting their musings.

Luke looked at him, feeling the exact same worry that was flickering in Icarus’s eyes. Though they didn’t doubt the capabilities of their friends, they also knew not to underestimate the monsters of the Maze. Down here, in the space between the land of the living and the land of the dead, they were in a position where the monsters were closer to their source. And being closer to their source essentially gave them a ‘power up’ boost. Neither of them wanted to be the one to remind those of the group who were aware or enlighten the ones who were unaware.

They both maintained their silence.

Percy could feel his heart beating in his chest as he stared down at Leo’s prone form for a moment before dropping to his knees to apply pressure to the gaping wound in Leo’s lower abdomen, though – with a rising sense of dread – he knew it was rather futile. It was obvious that the Minotaur’s horn had gored him, instead of just catching his side like Percy had initially hoped. 

He’d hoped that the beast had missed altogether, but he’d known from the minute the two hit the floor and blood started to appear that Tyche had decided to turn a blind eye on them that day.

If the blood flow stopped and the wound was clean, he had a horrible feeling that he would be able to see straight through to the tile beneath.

“How’s Thalia?” Percy asked softly, fixing his eyes on the rise and fall of Leo’s chest that provided only a small comfort.

“Breathing,” Nico stated plainly. Percy tore his eyes away from Leo for a moment to look at Nico.

If it were at all possible, Nico was paler than he was in the moments after bringing part of the tunnel down, small droplets of sweat forming on his brow. One of his hands was hovering over Thalia’s chest and his eyes were closed.

“Nico?” Percy couldn’t keep the fear out of his voice. Their situation was dire enough, he didn’t need Nico collapsing on him too.

“Her Aura is weak,” Nico responded, opening his eyes and moving his hand away. “She hit her head  _ hard _ .”

“Maybe ease off on using your powers right now, I don’t need you collapsing on me as well.” Percy tried to play casual as he admitted his concerns, but he knew from the look that Nico levelled him with, he wasn’t buying it.

“I’m fine,” Nico ground out, shaking his head. “Let me check Leo’s Aura before I have to start calling  _ you _ the god of the sun. You’re showing the same levels of concern.”

Percy shifted slightly the best he could while keeping pressure on Leo’s wound, not rising to the bait.. “Have you got a knife handy?”

“So we can add a few more holes to him?” Nico arched an eyebrow.

“To cut his t-shirt off, dumbass.” Percy rolled his eyes. “I can use it to staunch the blood while you dig through my bag for the first-aid kit.”

“Why did Apollo have to go to Olympus?” Nico glared at the ceiling as he pulled a small knife out of his belt. He shuffled over to Leo and cut the cloth away from around the wound, ignoring the fact that Percy’s hands were wet with blood.

“Knowing our luck he would have ended up on the other side of that rock.” Percy nodded over to the sealed door. He hoped that Icarus’s loss of direction had only been temporary, though said hopes were not very high.

“Five bucks says he would have been running after you so he could stare at your ass,” Nico chuckled as he finished cutting along the seams of the t-shirt, separating the front from the back. He balled it up and offered it to Percy.

“Grab my water bottle?” Percy shook his head. “Just pour it out on the floor, please?”

Nico gave him a funny look before complying.

Percy concentrated on the water, floating it into the air and forming it into a ball. After a second, steam started to float away from it in wisps.

He reluctantly removed one hand from Leo’s body, taking the ball of fabric from Nico and thrusting it into the ball of almost boiling water. Once the cloth was saturated, he lowered the water temperature before drawing it once more and depositing it on the floor. Then he pressed the clean cotton to Leo’s wound, hoping it would aid in staunching the bleeding. 

At the back of his mind he knew that there was another way he could staunch it, but the idea was untried and untested and he didn’t think that it was an appropriate time to take his chances with such a large injury.

Plus, the idea of controlling Leo’s blood terrified him a little, especially when the one and only time he had utilised the power flashed through his mind.

“Done that before?” Nico was watching him with raised eyebrows, thankfully not commenting on his moment of silence.

“Unfortunately we’ve had to improvise bandages many times,” Percy explained. “Michael and Lee always used to shout at us about the necessity of using  _ clean  _ fabric so I became rather adept at being a human washing machine.”

“Do you remember anything else?” Nico asked.

“Luke was always a lot better than me at this,” Percy admitted. “Like he said to me when I first arrived at Camp, Hermes is a jack-of-all trades; so he picks up things easier than the rest of us.”

“Will would never let me near any of his patients,” Nico informed him. “Apparently my bedside manner was shocking.”

“After seeing you on Olympus, I can’t imagine you were great in the role of patient either,” Percy teased, firmly ignoring the pool of blood he could see spreading from beneath Leo. “I’d give  _ you  _ five bucks to have Apollo here making unfortunate comments about my ass. At least he could help us with these two.”

Luke tried not to groan as Icarus had to pause again, staring at the forked path until his eyes seemed to drift out of focus.

He understood the struggle of the Legacy, he really did, but he couldn’t help but wish for better timing. This would have been easier to deal with when they had a god by their side and all other eleven members of the Quest present and accounted for, instead of having to worry about said division of their assets  _ and  _ their lack of navigation skills.

“I don’t understand what in Hades is going on!” Icarus scuffed his foot against the floor, scowling. “It’s not even like when we first came down here and it was flickering because we didn’t know who we were going after. It’s all hazy and weird.”

“It’s almost like  _ Apollo  _ was our good luck charm,” Thalia huffed, looking reluctant to believe her own words. “Everything started to go to Tartarus when he went to Olympus.”

“He only left us this morning!” Jason argued.

“And since this morning, we’ve nearly gotten lost repeatedly, had a monster chase us, got separated from four members of the Quest, and nearly got lost  _ again _ ,” Icarus listed. “I am perfectly willing to believe that the Sun God was our good luck charm.”

“What was the line in the Prophecy?” Luke asked, a realisation suddenly dawning upon him.. “ **_Sunlight bright will break the haze_ ** . What if it means that Apollo was the reason Icarus can navigate the maze? Everything has gone hazy, right? You specifically said  _ hazy _ .”

Icarus nodded in response, his eyes widening as he opened his mouth to respond.

“He’s the God of the Sun.” Annabeth spoke before Icarus could reply. “He’s literally ‘sunlight bright’ in human form. The Prophecy refers to the  **_Maze’s depths of darkness_ ** . You can’t see into the darkness without a source of light.”

“Well then,” Icarus sighed and sank down to sit at the base of the wall. “We may as well wait until Apollo finds us to test that theory. Percy said he would only be a few hours, right?”

“It feels like it  _ has been  _ a few hours,” Hazel pointed out.

“Time passes differently down here,” Icarus responded, looking up at her. “We don’t know how long it has been since he left us down here.”

“It could have been hours, it could have been days,” Luke murmured, unable to stop himself. He did manage to stop, however, before he pointed out that they were missing the member of the group wearing their link to the god. 

“Have you ever heard of the word optimism?” Annabeth stared at him. “Because you seem to be severely lacking it right now.”

“Apologies Annabeth, I didn’t realise that after being separated from my best friend in the depths of a maze that we are  _ lost in  _ with no viable way out, that the appropriate response is to be  _ smiling _ .” Luke rolled his eyes. “So I apologise for not feeling very optimistic right now.”

“You know what, while we’re on the subject…” Annabeth fixed him with a steely gaze. “You’re really trying to tell me that after everything, you and Percy just dropped all of that animosity and became the best of friends?”

“A lot can happen in five years, Annie,” Luke sighed. It had been a lot easier to talk to her when she hadn’t known Percy’s identity, when she was content to talk instead about the note his last life ended on and the apologies he had to make to her. “Is it really so hard to believe that me and Percy kissed and made up?”

Icarus snorted.

“Literally?” Annabeth’s eyes widened. She looked slightly horrified and Luke couldn’t help but share the sentiment.

“Geez, no, how many times do we have to say we’re just friends?” Luke rolled his eyes, used to having to say it to Icarus and the rest of their team when they liked to joke that ‘mom and dad are fighting again’ whenever they had a disagreement. “It’s a figure of speech, Birdbrain.”

“You haven’t called me that in years,” Annabeth stated quietly.

“It was a little difficult to do when you’re possessed or dead,” Luke informed her dryly, unable to resist. “Or not on the same planet. But seriously though, you think that me and Percy haven’t kissed and made up in the five years we’ve been together?”

“You tried to kill him for the first time when he was _twelve_!” Annabeth snapped, shaking her head. “You gave him shoes that were supposed to drag him into Tartarus, and when that didn’t work for you, you tried to kill him with a Pit Scorpion! Grover was wearing those shoes Luke, _Grover._ ”

“Oh, is  _ that  _ the story Percy refuses to tell Scorpio?” Icarus commented, completely blasé about the argument he was interrupting.

“Yes, Icarus, that is the story Percy refuses to tell Scorpio,” Luke sighed as he answered.

“I can see why.” Icarus nodded.

“Sorry Annie.” Luke turned his attention back to a stunned Annabeth. “Where were we?”

“You tried to kill Percy twice when he was twelve,” Jason coughed the reminder.

“And I’ve apologised to Percy for that gratuitously,” Luke informed Annabeth. “To the point that he threatened to send me back to the Underworld the hard way if I didn’t cease to issue them. And before you list the other occasions where I tried to kill him, I’ve apologised for them too. It’s been five years, Annabeth. Just because Percy doesn’t want to talk to you about what happened before he left, doesn’t mean you need to assume that he’s taken the same principle and applied it to the rest of us.”

Annabeth’s eyes flashed. “Luke, that isn’t fair.”

“I’m stating a simple fact and you know it.” Luke shook his head. “You’re pissed off about it, I can tell. But there’s no need to take it out on me. On us.”

“Of course I’m pissed off!” Annabeth finally showed some proper emotion, hurt in her eyes and anger on her face. “I’m pissed off with  _ myself _ . Do you realise how difficult it is to see him alive for the first time after thinking he was dead for the last five years – something that I have blamed myself for every single minute since we found Riptide in a pool of blood and came to the conclusion that he was  _ dead _ – and to just stand back and leave him alone?”

“Annie-”

“Don’t ‘Annie’ me, Luke!” Annabeth glared at him. “I screwed up, I know. I screwed up majorly. And I’ve had to live with that guilt for years. So yeah, I’m pissed off. I’m pissed off with myself.”

“Apologies for interrupting this tender scene,” a familiar voice sounded before Luke could say anything. They turned to see Apollo stood there with his arms folded and a scowl on his face. “But you seem to be missing the certain son of Poseidon you’re bickering about when  _ he’s  _ the one wearing  _ my  _ necklace. Where is he?”

“Why didn’t I listen to Will more when he told me medical facts? I used to sit in the Infirmary with him for hours, why didn’t I listen to him while I was staring at him?” Nico cursed himself as he rifled through Percy’s first aid kit. “Do you have a torch in here?”

“In the first aid kit?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“No Percy, in  _ space _ .” Nico rolled his eyes. “Yes, in the first aid kit!”

“In my bag,” Percy responded calmly, knowing not to rise to Nico’s anger. They were both stressed and bickering would do them no good.

“Thank you.” Nico flashed him a grateful smile before beginning to rifle through Percy’s bag. “And sorry. Other than being a live heart monitor, I’m not exactly the most useful person to have around in a life or death situation; unless you’re aiming for the latter.”

“No worries Nic,” Percy assured him, trying to stop an inappropriate laugh. “I don’t think I’d trade you for anyone right now.”

Nico looked him dead in the eye and huffed. “You filthy liar, tell the truth.”

Percy quirked a smile before confessing. “What I wouldn’t give to have Apollo here right now. Or Lee. Or Michael. I’d trade you in a heartbeat Neeks, I’m sorry.”

Nico stopped rummaging through Percy’s possessions and looked at him, eyes bright. “What if we  _ could  _ have one of Apollo’s kids here?”

“What?” Percy raised an eyebrow. A realisation dawned on him and he was swift to shake his head. “Nico di Angelo, if you are even  _ thinking  _ about Shadow Travelling right now, Apollo will skin  _ me  _ alive.”

“Poseidon’s barnacled beard Percy, do you seriously think I’d leave you down here alone?” Nico rolled his eyes.

“No,” Percy lied. “But what else could you be talking about?”

“ _ I see dead people. _ ” Nico grinned at him.

“If my hands weren’t trying to keep Leo’s blood where it should be – inside his body – I would be facepalming right now,” Percy informed him.

“I could summon someone’s ghost from the Underworld,” Nico pointed out. “And they could talk us through helping these two the best we can until Apollo returns.”

“But who?” Percy asked, not wanting to name the elephant in the room. “I’m going to admit that no names come to mind when I try to think of dead children of Apollo. I resurrected Michael and Lee, but I didn’t exactly spend a lot of time with their Cabinmates because none of them trusted me with a bow and arrow.”

“Rightfully so. I’ve seen you trying to shoot Thalia’s,” Nico snickered before seriousness took over. “A few others died in the Battle of Manhattan. Will mentioned them sometimes when he had nightmares about it.”

“I saw more than one golden shroud,” Percy recalled, nodding his head. If his hands weren’t covered in blood and currently occupied, he’d reach up and touch the bead he’d received that summer for his Camp necklace. He’d also touch the Hyacinth flower and pray for Apollo’s swift return, but he didn’t want to mar either necklace with blood. “Are you sure you’re okay to summon a ghost though?”

“Percy, I’m fine to do anything that would help Leo and Thalia,” Nico informed him, expression deadly serious.

“Don’t you need a pit and an offering?” Percy asked when he realised the vital components that Nico was lacking. He knew that they could perhaps improvise an offering with whatever food they had in their bags, but Nico didn’t have the energy to spare to create a pit and Percy was focusing too much on Leo. The last thing they’d need would be for Percy to accidentally create one beneath Leo.

“I’ve had a little more practice since then.” Nico shrugged. Percy still caught the flicker of doubt on his face. “It takes a little more energy but it’s still doable without. It’s also not as precise – we’ll still get one of Apollo’s children, but it could be anyone from a fallen Camper to Louis XIV.”

Before Percy could protest, Nico had closed his eyes and was chanting in Latin, the phrases washing over Percy and sending chills down his spine.

“ **_Child of Apollo, your presence is required. I summon you to me, I summon you to serve. Aid us in our hour of need_ ** _. _ ” Nico chanted, continuing on with similar sentiments.

“ _ Nico _ !” Percy warned as the outline of a spirit started to shimmer behind Nico. There was a vague impression of a human as a cool breeze washed through the chamber, goosebumps forming on Percy’s skin and a chill running down his spine.

Nico opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, it worked.” He sounded surprised, as if he wasn’t expecting it.

Percy wasn’t expecting Nico’s eyes to roll back into his skull and for him to collapse either.

He looked frantically between Nico and the spirit that was thankfully growing stronger, not fading away as he initially feared it would. Percy was frozen in place, unable to tear his hands away from Leo. He could only watch Nico’s chest continue to rise and fall as assurance that the act had simply exhausted him.

A soft gasp escaping from the spirit forced him to tear his eyes away from Nico and look up, expecting to see one of the children of Apollo that had fallen in the Battle of Manhattan.

“Oh my  _ gods _ .” Percy whispered, unable to stop himself.

Stood above Nico’s prone form, shocked expression on his face, was Will Solace.

  
  



	45. Will Gives More Answers Than a Ouija Board.

“Nico?” Will gasped, the first word falling from his lips being the name of the unconscious Son of Hades. There was an expression of shock on his face, a picture of reverent wonder as he reached out to touch Nico’s face. He withdrew his hand as if he had been burned before making contact, instead repeating Nico’s name, “Nico?”

He seemed to realise it was eliciting no response from Nico so he looked up, glancing around the room with shock making way for confusion. Then his eyes fell on Percy.

Percy knew that  _ he  _ couldn’t believe the fact that Will was in front of him, but Will seemed even more surprised to see Percy.

“Will?” Percy couldn’t stop himself from speaking, breaking the still silence that had only been punctuated by the sound of breathing. He couldn’t quite believe his own eyes; wondering if he was truly witnessing the scene before him, or if he was the one that had hit their head and he was imagining it all.

“Nic  _ found  _ you?” Will asked, sheer happiness colouring his tone. It wasn’t what Percy expected at all, guilt rolling in his stomach for the responsibility he felt for his part in Will’s death – being the reason Nico wasn’t with him.

“I-”

“Is that Leo?” Will cut him off before Percy could even start to answer, hurrying over with a wistful glance at Nico’s still form. “And Thalia? Perseus Jackson, what in Zeus’ name have I been summoned into?”

“Do you want the long version or the short version?” Percy asked, still slightly stunned. He hoped that Nico woke up soon, because he didn’t think he could face having to tell Nico that he’d managed to summon the spirit of his boyfriend that he had been searching for the last four years and promptly passed out.

“I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume that it has something to do with the ever-delightful Nathan and that  _ horror  _ of a boyfriend he traded my soul for?” Will arched an eyebrow and Percy was uncomfortably reminded of Apollo. “This seems to have his name written all over it, the murdering asshole.”

Then what Will was saying sank in. “You know what happened?”

“How about you tell me what you know and where in the name of Apollo you have been while I direct you on how to care for Thalia and Leo, and then I’ll tell you how much of that I already knew?” Will proposed. “Because I can already guarantee that I can tell you a few things that nobody else knows.”

“Okay,” Percy agreed easily, curious about what Will could tell him. “What am I doing, Doc?”

“Are you wearing my dad’s necklace?” Will asked, suddenly a lot closer than he was seconds before.

“Yes.” Percy nodded, having to stop himself from reaching for said item because of his bloodied hands. He wanted to hold it between his fingers and feel the warmth it still carried from the god that owned it and pray for his presence. Explaining the current events to the god was a challenge that Percy was anticipating with dread. “I can explain that as well.”

Will somehow managed to turn paler than his already pale visage. “Percy, please tell me that if I were to ever return to the human plane of existence, I would not have to call  _ you  _ ‘dad’ as well?”

“I’m not dating your dad!” Percy yelped quickly, shaking his head. “Short version is; I met a god when I left camp, he let me pull a bunch of our friends and demigods of old from the Underworld, we ran around the galaxy for five years, and then Zeus realised that there was something funky going on with Kronos and Gaia so he got in touch, we arrived at camp, did some digging, found out that Nathan is Gaia’s demigod son, also found out that Octavian is alive, stole Nathan’s diary, found out what Nathan did to bring Octavian back but they escaped before we could deal with them, planned a Quest, got issued two prophecies in two days – turns out a god has been kidnapped and nobody knows who – and now here we are. Chasing Nathan and Octavian through the Labyrinth while we try and find the kidnapped deity.”

“Have you seen Ant-Man?” Will asked. It was not the question Percy expected him to ask.

The answer about what happened to Leo and Thalia died on his lips and he awkwardly shook his head.

“Luis does a recap better,” Will informed him. Percy had no idea who ‘Luis’ was. “And how did you end up with Leo and Thalia in this condition and Nico passed out? Also, did  _ four  _ of you go on a Quest? You know that four is considered unlucky!”

“Twelve of us actually,” Percy corrected. “Which is a multiple of three.”

“ _ Twelve _ ?” Will’s eyes widened. “What, was Seven not enough last time? And where are the other eight?” He looked around the room before pointedly raising his eyebrow at Percy as if to question the empty chamber.

“Good question,” Percy sighed, wanting to know the answer himself. “We got separated. On a totally unrelated topic to what caused said separation, have you ever treated anyone who has been gored by a Minotaur?”

“I swear you’re more stressful than Nic.” Will rolled his eyes. “Move your hands, I want to see the wound.”

“Yes, Doc.” Percy obliged.

“That doesn’t mean stop talking.” Will levelled him with a look. “Who is supposed to be with you?”

“Obviously the four of us.” Percy gestured, despite the fact that Will’s attention was focused on the gaping wound in Leo’s abdomen. “Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Icarus - as in the one from the Greek myth, Luke Castellan, and err… Your dad, Apollo, came along too.”

Will looked up, eyes wide. “I honestly don’t know which of those last three I should be the most surprised about.”

“If you had told me the day before I left that in five years’ time that I would one-day be on a Quest with those three people, I would have dragged you straight to the Infirmary with suspected concussion,” Percy admitted. “And speaking of concussions, that’s what I think is wrong with Thalia.”

There seemed to be a small flicker of surprise at the mention of the time that had spanned since Percy left Camp, but he didn’t mention it. Will had just nodded, taking in the information before delivering some information of his own. “Apologies, Percy, but there’s nothing that can be done for Leo.”

“You’re telling me you didn’t even try to move the rock that blocked the door?” Apollo asked, staring at the group of demigods before him. Well, demigods and one legacy who had been sat on the floor looking rather despondent until Apollo announced his arrival. He did adore it when his arrival put a smile on a pretty face, even if it wasn’t the pretty face he had been hoping to see. “You just continued, leaving them with no guide and a monster after them?”

“It’s not like any of us could?” Frank defended them weakly. “None of us have super strength or anything, and it’s not like Piper could Charmspeak it into moving for us.”

“Do you or do you not have the ability to transform yourself into different beasts?” Apollo asked, raising an eyebrow. He wanted to sigh dramatically and hit his head against the stone of the wall beside him, but he knew that patience was key with demigods. He also knew that he couldn’t blame them for panicking, not when they had a beast of unknown origin chasing them down. “Surely you could take the form of something big enough to shatter the rock that blocks the way? Or make yourself small enough to fit through the gaps around it and potentially find the trigger mechanism that would spring it open?”

Frank blinked slowly before nodding. “Any suggestions?”

“Anything from an ant to an elephant could fit the scenarios I just suggested,” Apollo informed him dryly before turning his attention elsewhere. “Icarus, can you remember the way back? Or do we need to hold hands and I’ll drag you in the direction that my necklace calls from?”

Much to his surprise, Icarus blushed and ducked his head shyly. “I think I recall?”

“Excellent, hand holding it is,” Apollo declared, deciding to attribute it to the poor thing’s lack of human contact in his formative years. He couldn’t imagine being locked in a tower with only his father for company as a teenager, his skin crawling at the idea of having to spend years in close proximity to Zeus and nobody else. The isolation would drive him insane. No wonder Icarus seemed shy around him. “Come along, let’s hope they’ve not done something stupid like bleed out in our absence.”

“What do you mean, there’s nothing we can do for Leo?” Percy asked, feeling slightly horrified. His heart had dropped when Will delivered the news and he could feel it beating heavily as he questioned him. “I know it’s bad, I’m not stupid, but surely there’s  _ something _ ?”

“Leo’s fate lies in the hands of a person who is not here,” Will informed him; looking for a moment as if he was in a dreamlike trance, staring at something that wasn’t there. “All we can do is send him there.”

Before Percy could say anything more or protest, Will reached out and laid a ghostly hand on Leo’s chest. To his surprise, it didn’t pass through. Instead it glowed with golden light, tendrils flowing out and over Leo’s body, levitating him slightly off the ground so they could wrap around him in a cocoon of shimmering light. There was a flash that left spots in Percy’s vision, forcing him to blink furiously until he could see clearly. And he could see clearly that Leo was no longer there.

“Where did you send him?” Percy asked, a frantic edge creeping into his voice.

“Somewhere safe,” Will answered plainly. “I just hope that she is happy to see him and will not kill him for not arriving back sooner.”

Percy understood immediately.

“Now, Thalia!” Will moved on, gesturing for Percy to follow.

He dipped his hands in the puddle of water he had used to clean the fabric of Leo’s t-shirt with, controlling it to flow over and clean his hands of every last drop of his friend’s blood. Once he knew logically that they were clean – though Leo’s blood would be appearing on his hands in his nightmares until he saw him alive and healed – he followed Will the few feet to where Will was squinting at Thalia.

“I think you’re probably correct in your assessment that she has a concussion.” Will nodded. “Did she hit her head hard? I can see bruising forming on her temple.”

“The Minotaur had been chasing us,” Percy explained, possibly for the first time outside of asking if Will had treated victims of the Minotaur’s horns before. “We ran in here and got separated when someone stepped on a pressure plate that sealed the doorway, the four of us had to make a stand when the other corridor looped back around. Big and Beefy ran in and that was it then.”

“The ugly brute that you fought when you arrived at Camp and again on the Williamsburg Bridge?” Will raised an eyebrow and whistled. “He must seriously hate your guts for him to come for you three times in less than what, fifteen years?”

“Give him five years and I guarantee he’ll be after me again.” Percy grimaced. “Leo annoyed him by trying to set him alight with a fireball, so he was focused on him - I don’t think he liked the possibility of being turned into braised beef. Unfortunately when he was lining up to charge, Leo and Thalia didn’t look which way the other one was running and collided. Leo got gored and Thalia was thrown through the air and whacked her head against the wall.”

“Have you tried to wake her?” Will asked.

“Nico was looking after Thalia while I was keeping pressure on Leo’s wound.” Percy shook his head.

“A little nectar when she comes around and she’ll be as right as rain, provided there’s nothing else?” Will raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing else,” Percy confirmed. “How should I wake her?”

“Usually I’d be horrified at the suggestion I’m about to make, but we need the privacy to talk,” Will informed him. “She’ll be fine coming around on her own.”

“You want me to try and wake Nico?” Percy offered.

Will shook his head sadly. “Not just yet. There’s some things I don’t want him hearing until I can hold his hand and comfort him myself.”

Percy nodded reluctantly, knowing it wasn’t his place to argue with Will’s decision.

“How is he?” Will asked softly, looking across the room to where Nico was lying.

“We only found out what Nathan did to bring Octavian back a few days ago,” Percy sighed. “Before we came down into the Labyrinth, he told me that he’d been having nightmares about it.”

“How did you find out?” Will asked, a slight tremble in his voice. “You said you found Nathan’s diary, right? What did he actually write?”

“I’ve got it with me if you want to look?” Percy offered, not knowing how Will would take it. He couldn’t help but wonder if Apollo had found the answers to the questions it had given him yet, or if they would have to wait longer for his return. “In all honesty, I only read enough of it to figure out what he’d done and what the ritual was that he used.”

“I’d rather not have to read his gleeful account of what he did to me.” Will shook his head and shuddered.

“It knocked me sick when it registered what he was talking about,” Percy admitted with a wince. 

“Out of curiosity, what did he attribute my cause of death to?” Will asked, looking a little apprehensive.

“He only wrote minor details concerning how they planned for Tanner to swear an Oath that was intentionally misworded so it would backfire on you,” Percy explained. “It matched up to what Nico told me, though Tanner claimed it was accidental and had Nathan and their other friends to back him up.”

Will pursed his lips and nodded. “I figured as much. I know that was the explanation my dad gave to Nico.”

“How?” Percy frowned, unable to stop the question from falling from his lips. “Nico said he’s never been able to speak to you?”

“It wasn’t until my body was burnt and Nathan recited the ritual that my soul passed from Camp to the hands of the Fates,” Will explained, a sad smile on his face. “I had to watch my dad cry over my dead body and then I had to watch as he told Nico what had happened. I had to watch my boyfriend break and there was nothing I could do – it was like he couldn’t even sense my presence. I don’t know if it was the grief or if it was Nathan intervening somehow.”

“Gods Will, that’s just-” Percy stopped, not knowing what words to use. There wasn’t anything that could truly describe the experience that Will had just detailed, a jumble of words flooding his mind, though none of them were accurate or horrific enough to truly capture it.

“Sucks, right?” Will grimaced.

“That’s rough, buddy.” Percy nodded, knowing that Will was fine with the fact he didn’t know what else to say. “That’s one way to put it.” 

“Wait until you hear the fun part.” Will gave him a pained smile. “I didn’t die because of the Oath.”

Percy blinked once. “What?”

He felt like he’d had the rug pulled from beneath his feet  _ again _ .

“The perception that there was nothing my dad could do only came about because I, well, died.” Will winced. “He thought that there was internal bleeding that he didn’t manage to fix. What he didn’t know was that the internal bleeding that caused my death was from something else.”

“Apollo and Nico don’t know this?” Percy asked.

“Haven’t got a clue.” Will shook his head. “The night I died, I think it must have been just after midnight, my dad had to leave me alone in the infirmary for a short period. In that time, Nathan snuck in. He’d overheard someone say that there was a chance I’d pull through, so he decided to ensure that I wouldn’t.”

Percy’s desire to throttle Nathan was increasing by the second.

“I was drifting in and out of consciousness and all of a sudden he was there, leaning over me and telling me  _ exactly  _ what was going to happen, why he deemed it  _ necessary  _ for me to die. The injuries I’d sustained from the lightning strike meant I couldn’t shove him away and scream for help, I just had to lie there and listen to his villainous monologue. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t like a superhero film where the hero burst in and informed him that it wasn’t going to happen,” Will recounted as a sense of horror rose within Percy. “That’s when he forced me to swallow poison. I thought I was going to choke on it, I thought that was going to be how I died. Then my dad came back but Nathan heard him come in and managed to escape the same way he had snuck in. I started coughing up blood and my dad freaked because he didn’t know what was causing it. I died in his arms.”

“Will, I’m-” Percy couldn’t speak. “Oh my  _ gods _ .”

“Please don’t tell Nico.” Will looked terrified. “He doesn’t need to know, doesn’t need to hear it. Not when I won’t be there to comfort him. I just want someone to know the truth, I can be at peace knowing that you know.”

A thought then occurred to Percy. “What do you know about the ritual Nathan used, did he explain it to you?”

“Some crap about a soul for a soul, but not much more.” Will shrugged. “I know you mean well but unless you can tell me that there’s some mysterious counter-ritual that you’ve found, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Will, that is  _ exactly  _ why we’re going after Nathan and Octavian,” Percy told him. “In Nathan’s diary, he said that if we were to find out what he did, we’d find out that it can be reversed. If we can give the Fates Octavian’s soul, they’ll release yours.”

“What?” Will looked stunned, hope flickering in his eyes. “You’re saying you can… I can come back? There’s a way for you to bring me back and I can be with Nico again?”

“Yes!” Percy nodded.

“Oh my gods,” Will gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. Ghostly tears seemed to form in his eyes, sheer joy radiating from him. “Percy, I could kiss you right now.”

“Nico would send  _ me  _ to the Underworld,” Percy laughed. “Gods above Will, you thought that he wouldn’t find a way to bring you back? He’s been searching the Underworld for your soul for the last four years, he got Hades to go to the Fates and ask if they knew anything, and he even got Hades to agree to letting him sneak you out of the Underworld and turn a blind eye if he found you. From what I can gather, Hades was pissed on your behalf anyway, but the fact you were Nico’s boyfriend made his rage incandescent. He was the first one I told that Nathan had swapped your soul for Octavian’s because he literally walked in and saw my face after reading it and he was about to smite them both there and then.”

“The Fates keep a close eye on me.” Will winced. “At first, they were the ones who prevented me from answering Nico’s attempts to summon me. And then, when they stopped paying such close attention, I realised I could slip in and out as I pleased. But, by then, I realised that seeing Nico would just upset us both. I thought that seeing me, finding out what actually happened would devastate him because I knew I wouldn’t be able to lie to him. As much as I wanted to be selfish and see him, I knew that it would hurt us both in the long run. So I stayed away, no matter how desperate his calls became.”

“Why come now?” Percy asked.

“Honestly, I didn’t intend to,” Will admitted, looking guilty. “But it was like I had no choice in the matter. It felt like I was only dragged a short distance to be here though, so it may be that the summoning worked due to proximity. And I think the strength of the summoning was boosted by  _ that _ .”

Percy tried to look down to where Will was pointing before he realised that Will meant Apollo’s necklace and he reached up to finally touch it, mentally praying that the god would return with good news in good time. “Apollo’s necklace?”

“Aside from assuring me that you weren’t dating my dad, you never did explain why you’re wearing it?” Will frowned at him. “I’ve never seen him without it. Like, it’s actually freaking me out a little that you’re wearing it and you’re not my dad… Or at least dating my dad, which, if it’ll make you happy then-”

“I’m not dating your dad! You know how I mentioned a missing god?” Percy waited for a nod before continuing, despite having cut Will off to speak in the first place. “Your dad had a theory but he had to leave us to go up to Olympus to check it, so he gave me his necklace so he could find us again. Naturally, the moment he left us was when everything started to go wrong.”

“I can’t wait to see my dad again, I can’t wait to hug him and tell him that this wasn’t his fault. I don’t doubt that he blames himself,” Will admitted, eyes shining. He glanced over to Nico who was  _ still  _ unconscious. “And I can’t wait to see Nico again.”

Then he looked back to Percy, something akin to fear playing in his eyes.

“He hasn’t…” Will bit his lip. “I mean, I guess it’s okay if he has, it has been four years but… Is there someone else?”

“There’s nobody else,” Percy assured him, almost wanting to laugh at the parallels the conversation was taking to the one he’d had with Nico about his similar concerns. “I promise, there’s not even the passing hint of someone else. It took him more than a week before he could tell me what had happened to you and he was an absolute mess. When we found out we could bring you back, I wish you could have seen the look on his face. Telling him that Nathan had swapped your soul for Octavian’s was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but it was worth it to see him smile when we realised that there’s a strong chance we can reverse it.”

“Percy, please be honest with me,” Will pleaded. “How accurate do you think Nathan’s information is regarding you being able to resurrect me? I can’t have false hope.”

“A few of my teammates are looking through every book they can get their hands on within the borders of Camp to fact-check it,” Percy explained. “Nathan hid the fact he had brought Octavian back until we discovered otherwise, something that he wouldn’t have done if he knew that it couldn’t be reversed. If it was irreversible, I can guarantee that Nathan would have paraded him around Camp as his boyfriend and completely lied about how he returned with no fear of someone discovering otherwise and undoing it.”

“I can’t belie-” Will stopped mid-sentence, fear flickering in his eyes. “I have to go.”

“What?” Percy blurted out. “You haven’t spoken to Nico yet!”

“The Fates, they’ll realise soon that I’m gone, I’ve been here too long already.” Will shook his head. “Percy please, I need you to tell Nico not to try and summon me.”

“What?” Percy repeated.

Will gave him a sad smile. “I want the first time we see each other again properly to be when we can actually touch each other,” he explained. “I want to be able to wipe away his tears and for him to be able to wipe away mine. I want to be able to hug him and laugh with him while holding his hand. I want to be able to lean my head on his shoulder as we watch the dying embers of the campfire. I want to be able to kiss him. Please?” He looked at Percy with wide, beseeching eyes. “I want you to tell him I love him but I can’t see him again until I can do those things. And if he tries to summon me, I’ll either be summoned against my own will or I won’t come on purpose and I don’t want that. I want to see him again when I’m  _ alive _ .”

“Okay,” Percy agreed, though the words felt hollow and wrong. “I’ll tell him.”

“Thank you.” Will smiled at him. “I should get going. Thalia will be fine with a dose of nectar and Nico just needs rest. Tell him that I said ‘Doctor’s Orders’ and he might listen.”

“We’ll catch Nathan and Octavian and we’ll bring you back,” Percy promised, going against his instincts to swear an Oath on the Styx. “I’ll tell him you love him and I’ll look after him until you’re back to make him look after himself.”

“Thank you,” Will repeated once more before walking over to Nico’s unconscious form. He crouched beside him and reached out a shimmering hand to cup Nico’s face, smiling fondly down. Despite feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, Percy couldn’t tear his eyes away, his heart feeling heavy in his chest. 

Will leaned forward, stopping inches away from Nico’s face. He looked at it for several long seconds, as if he was committing it to memory, before closing the gap between them and pressing a ghostly kiss to Nico’s lips. He faded away in that moment, fading into a shimmer of gold that floated down and collected on Nico’s clothes and face, glittering like a kiss of summer sunlight.

Nico’s eyes flared open, confusion flashing in them as he bolted upright to see Percy stood there with a forlorn expression on his face. He tilted his head, looking around as if he was expecting to see someone else standing beside him. “Did it work?”

  
  



	46. Percy Hates Being the Bearer of Bad News. (He'd Rather Be Isildur's Heir.)

Percy didn’t know how to respond, the words sticking in his throat. He couldn’t believe how unfortunate Nico’s timing was – couldn’t quite believe that he’d missed seeing Will by a margin of minutes. Not even minutes,  _ seconds. _

A small, guilty part of him couldn’t help but be relieved that Nico hadn’t woken to find Will hovering over him unexpectedly, well aware of the fact that it would have resulted in a lot of shouting, followed by tears.

Now, he suspected, there was just going to be tears.

“Percy?” Nico frowned when he didn’t respond, scrambling to his feet with the same amount of coordination as a baby deer. He looked around the room for an explanation for Percy’s weird behaviour and his eyes widened when he saw the bloodstain on the floor where Leo had been lying. “Percy?” He repeated, sounding terrified. “What happened? Where’s Leo?”

“Leo is... I-” Percy choked out, not knowing what to say or how to say it. “Well, you-”

The sound of stone grating against stone silenced him, attention drawn to the sealed entrance as the large rock began to visibly shift. Apprehension washed over him as he prayed that there were friendly faces on the other side and they weren’t about to come face to face with another of the Maze’s monsters.

Their companions poured through once the gap was big enough, Apollo at the helm. All of them skidded to a halt when they realised that they needed to go no further to facilitate a reunion. Suddenly, a snake slithered its way from the now open doorway to Hazel’s feet, looping around her legs before settling beside her and transforming into Frank, confirming that their separated friends had suffered no casualties. Apprehension gave way to a tide of relief; particularly when it registered that their godly companion had returned and the group was almost whole, Apollo’s look of delight upon seeing them lighting up the room. 

“Percy, Nico!” Apollo was the first to speak, delight colouring his greeting before he took a proper look at the room. His eyes went wide as he seemed to notice the look on Percy’s face, the terror in Nico’s eyes, Thalia’s unconscious form, Leo’s absence, and the conspicuous bloodstain that marred the tile. “What in my father’s name happened during your separation? Seashell, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Funny you should say that,” Percy murmured, the words feeling hollow and heavy as they slipped out before he could stop them. 

“Where’s Leo?” Jason asked, confusion and fear flashing in his eyes. He seemed transfixed by the large bloodstain before he tore his eyes away for a moment to look at Thalia. “And why is my sister unconscious?”

“We got attacked,” Nico responded, eyes going to his forgotten trophy. The broken Minotaur horn lay innocently on the ground where he had dropped it, not caring for the reward when the price had been so heavy to pay. “The Minotaur was chasing us.”

“Leo antagonised him by accident; we didn’t know that he would react so badly to Leo throwing fire. He was after him from then on, we tried our best to distract him but he was having none of it,” Percy explained, feeling slightly numb. He still didn’t know what to say about Will and his predicament had just gotten ten times worse with the arrival of Apollo. “The Minotaur ran for Leo and Thalia and they didn’t check to see which way the other was running. They collided and then he collided with them. He gored Leo and sent Thalia flying into the wall where she hit her head pretty hard. We managed to defeat him and then tried to help them the best we could; Nico summoned a spirit to give us a helping hand. One of Apollo’s dead children.”

“So it actually worked?” Nico asked, still looking fearful and confused. “Who in Zeus’ name did I summon that has you so freaked out? I swear I was only joking about summoning Louis XIV.”

“What do you mean ‘so it actually worked’, Moonshine?” Apollo frowned. “Why are you asking who it was, surely you know if you summoned them?” His frown deepened before he placed his hands on his hips and started scolding the son of Hades. “Nico di Angelo, did you pass out?”

Nico groaned, hiding his head in his hands for a moment before peeling them away and looking at the gold dust that had transferred onto them with confusion. “What’s on my  _ face _ ?”

“I was going to ask about that too, is gold dust a new look, Moonsparkles?” Apollo fussed, trying to brush said dust from Nico’s shoulders. “It doesn’t hide your pale exterior very well kiddo, let alone those dark circles. You need to rest.”

“Get off!” Nico pulled a face at him and tried to wriggle away. “You’re worse than Demeter, honestly.”

“My Aunt may be right, you  _ do  _ need more iron,” Apollo mused before he shook his head and scowled. “Stop trying to distract me! Did you or did you not pass out?”

“I hate you,” Nico groaned. “I’m fine. Wake Thalia up if you want someone to fuss over or treat Percy for shock so he can tell us where in my father’s name Leo has disappeared to.”

“I can be a pretty effective shock blanket if you need a hug, Seashell?” Apollo wiggled his eyebrows at Percy before he reverted to the same look of concern he’d had for Nico. “You really do look like you’ve seen a ghost, Seashell, what have we missed?”

“I don’t know how to explain what happened,” Percy blurted out, shaking his head. 

“How about you start with where Leo is?” Jason repeated his earlier question, an annoyed expression on his face. “You said he was gored?”

“Nico summoned someone to help us with their injuries,” Percy explained, wondering how he should insert Will’s name into the conversation. “And he determined that there wasn’t much that could be done, especially with his limited capabilities as a spirit.”

“What?” Piper cried out.

Percy held his hands up to stop an onslaught of shocked exclamations before he could finish. “ _ But _ , he did have the ability to send him elsewhere for treatment. So he’s going to be fine!”

“You just let some random ghost dude send Leo off to some undisclosed location?” Jason’s jaw dropped slightly.

“It wasn’t some random ghost dude!” Percy swiftly defended himself. “And it wasn’t some undisclosed location, he sent him to Calypso. ...I think.”

“ _ You think _ ?” Annabeth fixed him with an incredulous stare.

“It was implied!” Percy defended himself. “He couldn’t exactly say where he was sending him; I sort of got the impression that he was trying to maintain a low profile, shouldn’t have been out of the Underworld, that sort of thing.”

“Shouldn’t have been out of the Underworld?” Hazel repeated.

“He was worried about his absence being noticed?” Percy winced, knowing that he may as well be digging his own grave.

“His absence from  _ where _ ?” Nico looked horrified. “Perce, tell me I didn’t summon anyone from the Fields of Punishment, my dad would murder  _ me  _ if I did - even by accident.”

Percy knew at that moment that the gig was up, he’d have to tell the truth. Even if he still didn’t know how to tell it. 

“Hey!” Apollo protested. “I don’t think any of my offspring have ever been sent to The Fields of Punishment. Asphodel, yes, but I don’t think-”

“Apollo,” Nico cut him off. “Believe me, you have children in the Fields of Punishment.”

“What?” Apollo looked stunned. “Are you sure?” 

“It wasn’t a spirit from the Fields of Punishment!” Percy interrupted before they could truly start bickering.

“Then why was this mysterious spirit dude worried about his absence being noticed?” Jason asked. “From what Nico has told me, nobody really keeps track of who is floating around Asphodel and if spirits wander off from Elysium or the Isles of the Blest, no doubt they expect them to return in due time.”

“He was worried about The Fates noticing his absence.” Percy winced. “Since, y’know, they’re the ones holding possession of his soul.”

Nico went the same shade Will had been.

“What?” Apollo whispered softly. 

“It was Will.” Percy blurted out, unable to stop himself now. “Neeks, you summoned Will. I didn’t know how to tell you, I still don’t really know how to tell you, but you did it. You summoned Will.”

“I did what?” Nico blinked at him, all colour well and truly gone from his cheeks.

“We’ll give the three of you some privacy,” Annabeth announced, swiftly ushering the rest of the group over to where Thalia was still unconscious. Percy felt a flash of guilt, having honestly forgotten to pay her any attention while he had been distracted with how to break the news.

“Annabeth?” He called out before she could follow the others. He ignored the shock in her eyes as she turned, giving her a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. “Will said that she’d be fine with some nectar, it’s just a concussion and nothing more.”

“Thanks Percy,” She acknowledged, giving him a small smile in return. “I’m sure she’ll come round in no time. We’ll let you three talk.”

She backed off, leaving him with a stunned demigod and an equally stunned god - both of whom looking as if they were the ones who had seen a ghost.

“Sorry, I know I didn’t break that very well,” Percy apologised with a wince. 

“I don’t think there was a good way to break that news.” Nico shook his head, his voice slightly strained and raspy, as if he were on the verge of tears. “I can’t believe I passed out. I can’t believe I-” 

He was cut off by Apollo shoving a square of ambrosia into his mouth, turning to glare at the Sun God as he chewed. “Was that seriously necessary?”

“You look pale,” Apollo defended his actions.

“ _ You  _ look pale,” Nico retorted.

“Maybe we should all sit down?” Percy suggested, a little worried about the pair of them. “And then I’ll start telling you what happened.”

Moments later they were sat down, both of them looking at him expectantly. There were different emotions in their eyes; Nico’s wild with confusion and upset, while Apollo’s gaze was vulnerable. Fear flashed in the god’s eyes, as if he was scared of what Percy had to say.

Percy was beginning to think that Will’s theory about his father blaming himself for his death may have more merit than Percy originally thought. In that moment, his heart broke slightly for Apollo and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was true, and if so, how exactly he’d managed to hide said self-blame from Nico. He knew he couldn’t ask Apollo about it in Nico’s presence, resolving to pull Apollo aside and speak to him privately later, instead of bringing up a painful event that Nico had been explicitly clear about not wanting to know the full details of.

Now knowing the full details, Percy didn’t blame him.

“Will wanted me to make it clear that he loves you,” Percy started off, directing his gaze pointedly between them. “ _ Both  _ of you.”

Apollo relaxed, ever so slightly, though the fear didn’t melt from his gaze.

“I can’t believe I passed out.” Nico shook his head. “What else did he say?”

“You sure you want to hear this right now?” Percy asked, biting his lip. “There were a few things Will wanted me to tell you but I don’t know if you’ll want to hear them.”

“Either you tell me or I’ll summon him so he can tell me himself,” Nico threatened. “It worked once, it’s bound to work again.”

“Nico, there’s no easy way to say this.” Percy took a deep breath before continuing. “But that’s exactly what he doesn’t want you to do.”

“What?” Nico asked, shock and hurt written all over his face, plain to see.

“Let me explain before you jump to the wrong conclusion.” Percy held his hands up to placate him. “I know what you’re like.”

“Don’t we all,” Apollo muttered, earning himself a scowl from Nico.

“Will didn’t know that he could be brought back,” Percy admitted, intervening before the two could start bickering. “He thought it was a permanent change, that the Fates would hold his soul and allow Octavian to use his life force until he died and then they would perhaps release him into the Underworld. I told him that we should be able to trade Octavian’s soul back for his. That’s why he said he doesn’t want to see you Nic, he wants to wait until he can touch you, and hug you, and kiss you again.”

“Oh.” Nico looked surprised before shaking his head. “Honestly Percy, you do know how to terrify a guy.”

“He also told me to tell you to rest, Doctor’s orders.” Percy smiled softly.

To his surprise, it was that simple instruction that caused tears to well up in Nico’s eyes. “Oh.” Nico laughed at himself as he wiped away the tears. “That’s what he used to say to me to get me to look after myself.”

“Someone needed to say it,” Apollo muttered.

“I-”

“I hate to interrupt,” Annabeth spoke up, cutting Nico off before he could issue a retort. “Thalia is awake and I was just wondering if Apollo could check her over properly? She’s saying her head hurts.”

“Duty calls, Moonshine, Seashell,” Apollo sighed, looking torn. He stood and Percy watched as he followed Annabeth across the room, feeling bad about the fact he couldn’t reassure Apollo that Will didn’t blame him for his death without Nico asking too many questions.

“I can’t believe I summoned Will,” Nico admitted once more, shaking his head. “What else did he say?”

After Percy had detailed the rest of his encounter with Will – minus what Will wanted to tell Nico himself and the admission that Will had deliberately ignored Nico trying to summon him because that was a conversation Percy did  _ not  _ want to have – and Apollo had ensured that Thalia was okay, they decided to start moving again.

They were all careful to avoid standing on the tile that had triggered the door to close in the first place, giving it a wide berth. None of them relaxed until they had all made it through the opening and Icarus had taken them to the left at the next turn without a hesitation.

“How much further do you want to go today?” Icarus asked him when he had left Nico and Apollo to talk at the rear of the group to check in with Icarus and Luke for the first time since they had reunited.

“Not too much further, both Thalia and Nico need to rest though neither of them will admit it,” Percy sighed, taking a glance over his shoulder to look at Annabeth and Thalia walking side by side. Thalia looked as if a strong breeze could knock her flat, but she was stubbornly walking unaided.

“Doesn’t that sound familiar?” Luke muttered. “Have you seen yourself?”

“Rude,” Percy huffed. “I’m fine! And it’s not like there’s any mirrors down here that I can look at, you try fighting an abnormally resilient Minotaur and come out of it looking this good.”

Luke gave him a critical once over and snorted. “Good?”

“I thought you’d at least be happy to see me.” Percy scowled at him. “It’s not like I’m your best friend and you should have been worried about my survival or anything. You’d have to find a new best friend who can stand to listen to you lament over-”

“I know  _ someone _ who was happy to see you,” Luke cut him off before he could finish, trying to torment Percy instead. “And I know that you were probably-”

Percy decided, then and there, that the best course of action would be to shove Luke into the wall to shut him up. It was only logical.

To his complete and utter surprise, Luke fell  _ through  _ said wall with a shout.

“Oh!” Icarus sounded thrilled. “I was  _ wondering  _ why the floor was glowing in front of that spot.”

“Did you seriously just shove me through a wall because I didn’t give you a hug when we reunited?” Luke asked, voice slightly muffled – as if he actually was on the other side of a wall. “Woah, it’s weird in here.”

Percy reached out to touch the spot that Luke had fallen through, feeling weird when his hand passed through what appeared to be an extremely solid wall. Despite knowing that Luke was on the other side, he still let out an involuntary yelp when his hand was grabbed and his Lieutenant dragged him through to join him.

Once on the other side, he took a nervous step closer to Luke when he registered what Luke was calling ‘weird’, though Percy would use a whole range of other expletives to describe it, alongside the word ‘weird’. 

There were three archways, one in the centre of each wall, that led out of the chamber that they were in. Behind them was a similar archway, though it was seemingly bricked up with cold grey stone. Both the floor and the ceiling seemed to be cut into the rock, plain and grey with no adornments or tiles to cover it. The walls themselves…

“Did we walk to Paris or have we found an entrance to Antaeus’ Arena?” Percy asked softly, eyeing the skulls that lined the walls. “Or when I raise my sword, will the ghosts of the men who betrayed my ancestor’s Oath be forced to fight with me against the Black Ships invading my Kingdom?”

“Hermes’ sweaty sandals, you’re a nerd,” Luke sighed and rolled his eyes. “Get Apollo to grow his hair a bit longer and you’ll have a pretty blonde archer to run around the plains of Minas Tirith with you. You’ll just need someone short and ginger to complete your trio.”

“Who’s ginger?” Apollo asked, having been the first one to push their way through after Percy. “I have an aversion to my hair being turned ginger thanks to dear old dad- Speaking of, where in dear old dad’s name are we?”

“Zeus above,” Thalia whispered, having followed Apollo.

One by one their companions stepped into the room, all of them flinching at the sight. Though Hazel was obviously unsettled, Nico’s reaction was the worst; rearing back as if he was about to exit the room before he’d even stepped two feet into it, shuddering as he made eye contact with empty sockets.

“Icarus, tell me that you know which way we should go to get out of here?” Percy asked, feeling unnerved with all of the hollow eyes watching him.

“ _ Please _ say back through the magic wall we just came through?” Nico pleaded. “I don’t like it in here, these souls…”

“So my chances of them agreeing to fight for Gondor are pretty strong then?” Percy couldn’t resist asking in the hope that it lightened the mood.

Luke slapped the back of his head. “Icarus? The exit?”

“This way!” Icarus practically sprinted for the archway opposite them, groaning when he found that the corridor was lined with skulls too. “Why couldn’t it have been  _ anything  _ but skulls?”

“Weapons of dead demigods?” Luke suggested, ever the optimist. 

“And  _ you _ slapped  _ me _ ?” Percy protested. “At least I was joking!”

“Can we just start walking and hopefully find somewhere with  _ less  _ angry souls of the dead?” Nico asked, being the first one to start after Icarus who was slowly getting further and further away from them.

“Need me to hold your hand, Moonshine?” Apollo asked.

“I’ll add your skull to the collection if you try,” Nico threatened.

“Of course you will, Moonshine,” Apollo humoured him, patting him on the head and flouncing after Icarus.

“Let’s go.” Percy made a beeline after them, not wanting to be the last one stood in the chamber. “The faster we get out of this section of the Maze, the sooner we can rest.”

“Now  _ you  _ sound like you are in need of a lovely hand to hold, Seashell?” Apollo offered. The smile he gave Percy was tight, obviously still bothered by the revelation that someone had spoken to Will for the first time in four years but determined to put on his usual mask.

Percy couldn’t help but offer him a gentle smile, hoping to convey the words ‘Will doesn’t blame you and if you actually blame yourself, you’ve spent far too much time in your sun chariot, frying your brain’ with his eyes. “Well,” he settled for laughing warmly instead, “if it carries on for too long, I may take you up on that offer.”

“Where do you think this section ends?” Nico asked after they had walked through corridors lined with skulls for what felt like hours.

None of them wanted to stop.

“I haven’t a clue but I hope it’s soon,” Percy admitted, casting an uneasy look at the wall to his left. “I’m getting sick of looking at the wall and having it stare back.”

“Just be thankful you can’t feel what I feel.” Nico shuddered.

“Turn ahead!” Icarus called back to them, interrupting before Percy could reply to Nico.

“Left or right?” Percy asked, giving Nico an apologetic look.

“Right!” Icarus answered before promptly disappearing around said corner.

They all hurried after him, sighing in relief as they registered the lack of hollow eyes watching their every move once they stepped into the new corridor.

“I feel weird,” Icarus warned, taking slow and steady steps towards a sharp turn that lay waiting for them. He withdrew his sword from his belt and pressed his back against the wall before moving swiftly around the corner.

Silence followed.

“Icarus!” Percy ran forward, bypassing the few members of the group that lay between him and Daedalus’ son to reach him. He was relieved to find him standing just around the sharp turn, despite the fact he was frozen still. “What is it?”

“It’s glowing gold,” Icarus whispered. “Behind there, that’s where our god is.”

Percy followed his gaze to where a metal door stood, heavy chains barring their entry.

  
  



	47. Are You There, Random God? It's Us, The Scooby Gang.

“So, anyone know how to pick a lock?” Percy asked, wishing desperately that they had Leo with them. The son of Hephaestus was well renowned for his opinion that locks were just a minor inconvenience that could be swiftly bypassed. He looked to Luke and Icarus in his place; knowing the former could do the task with his eyes closed or through sheer force of will, and the latter had picked up a few tricks from his father.

“You  _ know  _ I can pick a lock, Goldfish Brain,” Luke laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Normally I’d step aside and allow the son of Hermes to do his thing and pick the lock, but I’ve been wanting to put the skills I’ve learned straight from the source – Hermes himself – to the test for years,” Apollo spoke before Luke could step any closer. “So, allow me.”

Luke simply laughed again and gestured for Apollo to do as he pleased.

After what felt like an age, but was likely only half an hour later, Apollo was still trying to wriggle a hairpin into the first lock.

“I’ve nearly got it!” He assured them. “Just a little more time and I’ll have it open.”

The rest of them had sat down and left him to it about five minutes in, knowing that they would be stuck there waiting until the god admitted defeat and allowed someone else to try.

Percy had a feeling that they were going to be there a while.

“So maybe I haven’t nearly got it,” Apollo finally conceded. “And I may have slightly overestimated how much knowledge I absorbed while Hermes was trying to teach me how to pick a lock. In my defence though, I’d chipped my nail polish and needed to take it all off and repaint them, but I really  _ was  _ listening to him while I was painting them.”

“At least you gave us some entertainment,” Luke informed him cheerily, before rising to his feet with  _ bolt cutters  _ in his hands.

“Seriously, Castellan?” Apollo pouted when he noticed. “You really just sat there and watched while I looked stupid?”

“It would be a shame to break a habit of a lifetime.” Luke grinned.

“Where did you even get those from?” Apollo asked.

“Leo’s bag,” Luke responded. The mood instantly dropped. They were all well aware that the son of Hephaestus had suffered a potentially fatal wound and all they could do was hope that sending him away had been the best thing Will could have done for him.

“Wait!” Nico’s sudden cry stopped Luke from cutting the first link of the chain that he had placed the cutters around.

“What’s up?” Luke asked, confusion on his face.

“Why is it locked from this side?” Nico asked. “If I went to all of the trouble of kidnapping a god, I wouldn’t leave the door to his cell unattended – locked or not.”

“Nico has a point,” Percy realised. “Why is it locked but unguarded?”

“Am I the only one who noticed the multiple corridors filled with the skulls of the dead that we had to walk through to get here?” Jason asked. “Because that seemed like a good enough deterrent for me. We’re the only bunch of idiots who would see a path lined with skulls and go ‘oh, down there seems fun’ and not turn and run in the opposite direction.”

“Zappy has a point,” Apollo pointed out. “Though I would like to say that I disagree with your assessment that we’re a  _ group _ of idiots. Speak for yourself.”

“Seriously? Percy gets Seashell, Nico gets Moonshine, and I get Zappy?” Jason huffed.

“She’s Sparky, you’re Zappy. Unless you prefer ‘Lightning McQueen’, Baby J?” Apollo gestured first to Thalia and then to Jason. “Are you actually more concerned about your nickname than the creepy door that could lead to our gruesome demise?”

“It’s literally glowing, it’s where we need to go,” Icarus reasoned before Jason could respond to Apollo. “We just have to be prepared for whatever is behind there.”

“Wait a second.” Percy frowned, a certain thought occurring to him for the first time. “Apollo?”

“Yes, Seashell?” Apollo responded sweetly.

“You never did tell us why you went to Olympus in such a hurry,” Percy pointed out. “You said you had to check a theory but haven’t made any mention of it since your return.”

“Ah,” Apollo sighed and his shoulders sagged. “I was wondering when one of you would call me out on that. Of course it had to be you.”

“So why did you go?” Thalia asked. She’d been disconcertingly quiet since she’d overcome the dizziness and haziness that had bothered her after waking, especially after being told that Leo had been hurt pretty badly. Percy worried that she blamed herself.

“As you very well may know, I am a god,” Apollo informed them before pausing for dramatic effect, as if allowing the news to sink in.

“Well no shit,” Luke snorted. “Get on with it, Sunshine.”

“I am providing the context, Baby Herm. It’s like you’ve never told a good story before,” Apollo huffed. 

“I miss the days you used to just throw song lyrics at us and smile at Percy instead of actually trying to string a proper sentence together,” Luke informed him dryly, though a smile danced across his face to make it obvious he was just teasing the god.

“You want song lyrics?” Apollo seemed to take it as a challenge. “I can do song lyrics.”

“Gods no,” Percy groaned. “Luke, you couldn’t have kept your mouth shut?”

“Funny you should say that actually, because Zeus probably doesn’t want me to tell you this,” Apollo admitted. “So basically, there’s an old man sitting on the throne that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut, and I’m like ‘your words don’t mean a thing, I’m not listening’ like usual, right?”

“Why?” Nico groaned softly, looking to the ceiling as if it would provide aid. “ _ We could have had Hermes _ .”

“You don’t have to say you love me, I just wanna tell you something.” Apollo looked positively  _ gleeful  _ as he spoke. 

“Apollo, please just get to the point,” Percy begged. “Use all of the song lyrics you want later, but  _ please  _ get to the point.”

“I’m getting there!” Apollo huffed. “Girls just wanna have fun, Seashell, let me have fun with this.”

“Apollo, did you actually learn anything from your trip to Olympus or are you just trying to stall having to admit that?” Percy asked.

“I love the way you're screaming my name.” Apollo winked at him. “Though I suppose I’m just diggin' my grave to get a reaction right now.”

“You really have no shame, do you?” Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did you or did you not learn anything from your trip to Olympus?”

“I don’t know,” Apollo sighed, all joking and smiles put aside. “I thought I had a solid theory to work with and I go to Olympus and start asking questions and my dad tells me to stop sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong and leave it for the more experienced gods to handle. If I’m right though… It throws a lot of things off balance.”

“What was your theory?” Percy asked gently, trying to encourage the sun god to be straight up about it and just tell them.

“Honestly, I think I’m just being stupid,” Apollo huffed, shrugging. “Everyone says I am, why not just own up to it?”

“Apollo.” Percy had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. Usually it was hard to get Apollo to stop talking. Now they had a problem getting him to  _ start.  _ “None of us are going to laugh at you for having a theory. And none of us would laugh if it turned out to be wrong. None of us think you’re stupid either, especially not me.”

“In the unlikely event I’m right, I’ll tell you, okay?” Apollo offered. “I don’t know whether I  _ want  _ to be right or wrong about this.” He sighed before going to rake a hand through his hair before aborting the gesture. “There are a lot of gods I have complicated relationships with, but I wouldn’t wish this on any of them.”

“Okay,” Percy agreed, backing down. Pressuring him was pointless. Apollo had decided he didn’t want to talk about it so Apollo  _ wasn’t _ going to talk about it. His earlier humour was obviously forced, playing to stall while he tried to figure a way out of what he had landed himself in. “We’ll talk about it later. There’s something else I need to talk to you about as well.”

“Oh yeah?” Apollo raised an eyebrow, his interest obviously piqued. “What would that be, Seashell?”

“Later.” Percy dismissed with a wave of the hand. He didn’t think Apollo would appreciate him telling the rest of the group that he wanted to discuss Will with him, which would only lead to Nico asking what it was that Percy wanted to discuss with Apollo that he wouldn’t have already heard Percy tell Nico. And considering that it wasn’t something Percy wanted Nico knowing until Will could tell him himself, he didn’t even want to say what the subject matter was. It was bad enough that Apollo had barely involved himself in conversation before, having flinched away and pretended to be distracted by Thalia as Percy had tried to reassure Nico that Will didn’t blame him in the slightest for what had happened. It was clear now that Percy knew the circumstances that Nico had never been told about that Apollo blamed himself.

“If you insist, Seashell.” Apollo nodded before affixing a false smile to his face and spinning to face Luke. “Baby Herm!”

“Yes?” Luke sighed, not protesting the name.

“The door, if you would?” Apollo grinned.

“Wait!” Nico repeated his call of alarm from earlier. “We  _ still  _ don’t know what could be behind there.”

“There’s only one way to find out, Moonshine,” Apollo pointed out. “And that’s by going through it.”

After all of the bickering and debating that had entailed prior to Luke growing fed up and just cutting through the locks, what was on the other side of the door was a bit of an anti-climax.

“Oh,” Percy sighed, lowering Riptide. “It’s just another corridor.”

“No shit, Kelphead,” Thalia snorted, lowering her bow and relaxing. “Way to state the obvious.”

“We were all thinking it!” Percy protested.

“Shut up, you two,” Annabeth hissed. She tilted her head slightly and frowned. “Can anyone else hear that?”

“Hear what?” Apollo asked. 

Nico elbowed him in the ribs. “We can’t listen if you’re babbling.”

They all silenced with another glare from Annabeth.

“Get through the door,” Icarus urged, gesturing for them to follow him through. “This is the way we need to go, the entire pathway is glowing and getting brighter by the foot. The noise is coming from the way we came.”

“I swear if those skulls have come to life…” Thalia shuddered before she followed Icarus.

“You’ll have a bone to pick with whoever put them down here?” Apollo asked innocently.

Nico groaned. “ _ Why did we agree to you coming _ ?”

Once they were all through, Luke shut the door after them and grinned when he saw that it could be locked from their side.

“Are we locking ourselves in with something or locking something else out?” Percy caught Luke’s arm as he fished some locks out of Leo’s bag.

“You heard Icarus, the noise was coming from the corridor of skulls,” Luke assured him. “And we’re not locking ourselves in when we’re the ones with the bolt cutters.”

“Okay,” Percy agreed, albeit reluctantly, and watched on as Luke secured the door. “Where do you think this leads then?”

“Hopefully to our missing god,” Icarus responded, once again taking the lead. He had withdrawn his sword from its sheath while Luke tended to the locking the door and Percy couldn’t help but grin. The sabre was Icarus’ baby; long, curved and gleaming, the celestial bronze catching in the light with each movement. He had crafted it himself, insistent that he could create a masterpiece in the same manner as his father, and a masterpiece it was. The handguard that curved over and protected Icarus’ knuckles was a painstakingly intricate bronze wing, each feather individually cut and welded together. “Shall we?”

“Lead the way,” Percy invited, reaffirming his grip on Riptide. He could feel the weight of Stormbringer and Maelstrom in his pocket in their disguised forms – the weight that the former failed to protect Leo weighing on him too – and knew that in the event of a massive fight, he would be able to throw Riptide aside, knowing it would return, and use the other two as a pair in the same way he had facing Kronos and his battalion. Having the backup was reassuring.

“Are we placing bets on the identity?” Thalia asked, nocking an arrow again as they advanced down the corridor.

“Let’s not,” Piper said hastily with a glance at Apollo.

“Everyone has given it some thought though, right?” Thalia asked.

“Yes,” Jason agreed, trying to placate his sister. “But we don’t need to place bets on who it could be.”

Icarus halted unexpectedly, Percy nearly colliding with him before he registered that he had stopped in front of him.

“Icarus!” Percy yelped, relieved that he had lowered Riptide to carry the blade by his side. He would have skewered one of his best friends otherwise, and that was not something he would have wanted to explain to the rest of the team upon their return. “Give us some warning that you’re about to stop, I nearly stab-”

“Shut up,” Icarus hissed, gesturing for quiet. He tilted his head and peered into the darkness ahead, looking down a path that the rest of them could not see.

“What do your elf eyes see, Icarus?” Percy teased lowly.

Icarus sighed. “You’re not helping, Percy.”

Percy silenced, allowing Icarus his moment to think.

“Okay, we can move,” Icarus informed them. “I thought I could hear singing?” 

“Singing?” Apollo piped up. “What song?”

“I couldn’t quite make it out before you lot started babbling and it stopped,” Icarus huffed. “No matter, I’m sure we’ll have it answered soon. Now, are you lot going to stand there all day or are you going to follow me?”

“You’re the one who stopped!” Percy pointed out as Icarus sped off, quickly pursuing him.

They didn’t get very far before Icarus skidded to yet another halt, stopping before he came into sight of whoever was inside the lit doorway that was shedding more light upon the pathway than they had seen in quite some time.

Icarus gestured for quiet and for once not one of them made a smart comment, all readying their weapons in preparation. Then he stepped backwards and allowed Percy to step to the front of the group, before they were both pulled back and Apollo stepped into his place.

“I’m a god, darling, and I’m damn-right more durable than you are,” Apollo murmured as he passed, patting Percy’s hip. “Let them try and stab me first.”

“I want someone to stab  _ me _ ,” Nico remarked in a soft whisper from just behind Percy.

Apollo winked at him before drawing his bow and stepping into the doorway, loosing the arrow immediately. They heard a surprised gasp and a thud from inside before Apollo repeated the action and a strangled cry was silenced.

“Eight guards!” Apollo yelped, swapping the bow and arrow for the sword that sat on his hip with a reluctant sigh. “Good thing Big Herm let me borrow my sword back!”

He disappeared into the room and the rest of them were quick to follow, registering the presence of the eight guards – two of them with arrows protruding from their shoulders. Looking around, Percy realised that they were all demigods - the majority older and grizzled in a way that unsettled him - and understood why Apollo had chosen to shoot to incapacitate instead of kill.

“You want to get through that door?” One of them snarled and gestured to yet another door that was barred with chains. “You’re going to have to kill us.”

Change of plan.

They all looked at each other and made a silent agreement that they couldn’t leave any of the room’s inhabitants alive, lest they run to Gaia after they departed and inform her that Percy was still alive and completely ruin their element of surprise. Definite change of plan then.

One by one, the seven of the eight guards ran at them – even the ones with an arrow protruding from their shoulders – while the eighth stayed pressed against the door that Percy presumed led to the god. From what Percy could see over the shoulders of the fighting, the one pressed to the door seemed younger. Only a teenager, just like them.

Soon enough, he was the only one left standing, quivering by the door. When he realised that he was the only one between them and the door, he lifted his sword and scowled, though he seemed reluctant to move any closer.

“Jackson?” The teen identified him and he cursed himself for not thinking to put his mask back on before they entered. The boy’s lip curled in disgust and Percy frowned, trying to think where he recognised him.

“Tanner.” Nico spat venomously. “I’m almost certain that you’re supposed to be in Camp right now.”

Ah, that would be where Percy recognised him from. 

“Well, well, well, di Angelo, looks like you managed to find  _ one  _ of your dead boyfriends.” Tanner drawled, smirking. “And no, after Nathan took it upon himself to run away with Octavian, the Earth Mother requested I joined the Guard down here, just to make sure that Nathan didn’t get any funny ideas when he came to collect the little god we’ve got chained up in there.”

“What do you mean, funny ideas?” Percy asked before Nico could snarl back a response to the boyfriend comment, wanting to get as much information out of him before they unleashed the son of Hades on him. “You must be the guy in charge down here, right?”

Tanner puffed up in response to his ego being stoked, flashing Percy a smile and a wink. “I never got to make your acquaintance, did I Jackson?”

“No, thankfully not.” Percy plastered a false smile on his own face.

“The poster Nathan had on his wall didn’t do you enough justice.” Tanner winked once more.

“That’s the only thing we agree on,” Apollo coughed from beside him.

“You didn’t sound too impressed by the fact Nathan left with Octavian,” Percy pointed out, choosing to ignore what Tanner had just said. “You don’t approve?”

“I don’t approve of the fact that Nathan was given so much responsibility just because he’s the Earth Mother’s son.” Tanner sniffed. “Especially after he disobeyed her in such a spectacular fashion.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Thalia asked from over Percy’s shoulder.

“Oh hey, gorgeous, I didn’t spot you there.” Tanner waved at Thalia. “I was entranced by Percy here.”

“He’s like Solis,” Jason mumbled, thankfully being mindful to use the god’s nickname and not give away his identity.

“I take offence,” Apollo informed them, with a look of derision on his face. “I’m not that sleazy.”

“Yeah, Solis is practically a saint in comparison,” Percy agreed. Apollo was, thankfully, nothing like Tanner - minus the incurable winking habit.

“You’ve just made my day, Seashell.” Apollo gave him an incandescent grin.

“Can we please direct your attention away from him, whoever he is, and focus it back on me?” Tanner pouted. “I was about to answer Thalia’s question.”

“Please do.” Thalia’s sugar sweet tone sounded as fake as Percy’s smile was.

“Obviously I’m referring to the fact he resurrected Octavian.” Tanner rolled his eyes. “The Earth Mother had expressly forbidden Nathan from doing it, yet he did it anyway.”

“Just how did he do that, Tanner?” Nico asked, his voice deceptively calm.

Tanner looked at him, squinting slightly before his eyes widened and fear flashed through them like a bolt of lightning in a stormy sky. “You know, don’t you?”

“What, exactly, was the Oath you swore that killed my boyfriend?” Nico asked, stepping closer to Tanner and placing the tip of his sword to the delicate flesh on the underside of Tanner’s skin. “I’ve always been curious. Clarisse couldn’t tell me the full thing, but I know it was intentional. Now I know why.”

“Look, it was Nathan’s idea.” Tanner winced. Percy frowned, knowing that Tanner was lying from what he had read of Nathan’s diary. It had been Tanner that had suggested death by Oath – if they were to trust Nathan’s word. “I hardly wanted to do it, but it’s not like you can say no to the son of the Earth Mother.”

“You just said it yourself, the action wasn’t sanctioned by Gaia,” Annabeth spoke up, glaring at Tanner. “Are you going to say that Drew had to Charmspeak you into it?”

“Well Annabeth, I wouldn’t want to use the same excuse as you did when asked why you kissed Nath-”

“Say another word in reference to that and I’ll stab you before Nico,” Annabeth threatened.

Percy was reeling, trying to comprehend what Tanner was implying.

“I said it because I figured it would be a mercy,” Tanner huffed. “Nathan’s other ideas were less than tasteful, and we didn’t need to give Chiron and Mr. D a strong reason to kick him out of Camp. I hate to say it, but we needed him there so I agreed to do it.”

“Tell me what you said,” Nico repeated, glaring at him.

“Nico, it’s been four years, you don’t possibly expect me to remember what I said?” Tanner rolled his eyes.

“What you said  _ killed Will _ ,” Nico snarled. “So yes, I do expect you to remember.”

“You want me to say the full Oath?” Tanner quirked a brow.

“Don’t you dare.” Apollo shook his head, grip visibly tightening on his sword. “One of us would kill you before you had the chance to complete the Oath.”

“You’re no fun.” Tanner pouted. “Alright, I said that the next time I shot an arrow, he’d die. Or something like that.”

“How do you live with yourself?” Nico asked, looking disgusted.

“Quite well, actually.” Tanner grinned. “Afterall, it didn’t even kill him.”

“What do you mean?” Nico frowned.

“Oh.” Tanner’s eyes lit up. “Apollo never told you?”

“I didn’t exactly want to know the exact details about how my boyfriend died.” Nico glared at him. “Unlike you, I don’t find pleasure in what happened. You can’t even hide your delight.”

“I can’t help but find delight in the fact that despite you knowing what happened,  _ you don’t know everything _ .” Tanner’s smile was wicked. “And I-”

Nico surged forward and used the hilt of his sword against Tanner’s head to knock the son of Aphrodite out cold, stopping him before he could speak further.

“I’m sorry.” Nico winced as he turned to face them. “I couldn’t stand here and listen to that.”

“I’m surprised you listened for so long,” Apollo sniffed and poked at Tanner’s unconscious body with his foot. “I thought you might have decapitated him on sight.”

“What did he mean?” Nico asked, hurt in his voice. Apollo stiffened. “About what you never told me?”

“Nico…” Apollo winced. There was tension in the air, almost palpable as the god shifted uncomfortably and rubbed at the back of his neck. “There were things that happened the night Will died that we didn’t want to tell you. That  _ I  _ didn’t want to tell you.”

“Does everyone in Camp know apart from me?” Nico asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Apollo assured him quickly. “It was supposed to be kept between myself, Chiron, and Mr. D. I don’t know what Tanner knows or how he knows, but he shouldn’t.”

“I really hate to interrupt,” Luke sounded apologetic. “But what are we going to do with him?” He gestured to Tanner. “And them.” He added, gesturing to the other bodies.

“We should take him back to Camp,” Nico decided for them, referring to Tanner. “If we can convince him to turn against Nathan, which might be easier than we think if we play them against each other, we might be able to get some useful information out of him.”

“We’d have to take it with a pinch of salt,” Annabeth warned.

“Obviously.” Hazel nodded, taking Nico’s side. “We’d be fools to trust him.”

“We should tie him up then,” Percy agreed. “Before he wakes up and decides that fighting would be easier than talking.”

“And when we’ve tied him up, we can talk about that door.” Luke gestured as he drew some chains out of Leo’s bag.

All eyes went to where Luke had pointed, to the door that Tanner had been pressed against since the moment they had passed through the opposite doorway. They had given it little attention since, despite knowing that the eight guards present pointed to the possibility that they had achieved one of their two goals that they had set out from Camp with – they had found the missing god.

“It’s glowing,” Icarus breathed, a sense of wonder in his tone as he staring. “We’ve found him.”

“I still think we should place bets on who ‘he’ is,” Thalia muttered. “It’s got to be someone good, right?”

“Thalia, nothing about the fact that the opposition managed to kidnap a god is  _ good _ .” Percy stressed, looking up at the ceiling in the hopes that maybe they were under the sea and his dad could give him strength. “No matter who it is.”

“All I’m saying is that they’ve got a lot to live up to!” Thalia shrugged. “Luke managed to kidnap Artemis-”

“I did not kidnap Artemis!” Luke protested.

“Sorry, I didn’t realise you’d already been possessed at that point,” Thalia stated dryly. 

“Ah.” Luke dropped his gaze and winced. “Technically-”

“Let’s not get into the technicalities about Luke’s part in Artemis’ kidnapping,” Percy interrupted hastily, trying to ignore the shocked expressions on the faces of Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Piper; none of whom had been present at Camp Half-Blood when the incident had happened. Icarus had heard the details from Luke and Percy, and presumably, Apollo had gotten the details from his own sister.

“Let’s not,” Apollo agreed with Percy. “I, personally, don’t like to discuss Arty’s disappearance.”

“I’m sure she likes that nickname even less,” Thalia muttered.

“She’s got a point though,” Nico remarked. “How many gods have gotten themselves kidnapped in recent years?”

“Arty, my Step-Bother, and Thanatos.” Apollo nodded, looking positively gleeful about one of the list. “And now whoever is behind that door.”

“Step- _ Mother _ .” Nico corrected him.

“That’s what I said,” Apollo sounded completely innocent. “Huh, I suppose you’re right though. Three is a pretty big number when we’re talking about gods getting kidnapped.”

“Especially when we’re talking about immortal and all-powerful beings,” Frank pointed out.

“Artemis was tricked,” Annabeth defended.

“So was Hera,” Jason reminded them.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Thanatos was too?” Piper raised an eyebrow before turning her attention to Apollo. “Man, you lot need to stop falling for tricks that end up with you getting captured.”

“Well, it seems we can always rely on you meddling kids to come and foil their terrible plans.” Apollo beamed at them before turning serious. “And it seems like we’ve got someone else for you meddling kids to rescue.”

“Oi, you’re classed as one of us right now,” Percy reminded him before shifting his attention. “Luke?”

“Yes?” Luke looked up from where he had just finished securing the chains around Tanner’s wrists.

“Would you do the honours with the bolt cutters?” Percy requested, gesturing to the door. “We’ve got a god to find.”

Apollo stood beside him with bated breath as Luke positioned himself to cut the chains, looking back to Percy once more for assurance.

“How about we use these?” Nico asked, lifting the ring of keys from Tanner’s belt.

“Or we could just use those.” Luke nodded, grinning as Nico tossed them over to him. He discarded the bolt cutters to the side and swiftly worked through all of the locks until they were stood looking at the handle that would open it and reveal what was on the other side.

“Who wants to-?” Luke gestured to the handle, looking back at the rest of them. “Apollo?” His tone was gentle, filled with understanding that Apollo had a better idea of who could possibly be on the other side, and even if he wasn’t correct, he would know them either way.

“Sure,” Apollo accepted and they all pretended that they didn’t hear the slight shake to his voice, the nerves that coloured his tone.

The sun god stepped forward and Luke stepped aside, allowing him to place his hand on the handle and  _ pull _ .

A rush of cold air flooded over them as the door opened, revealing a god on his knees, chains coming down from the walls to keep him in place. His head was bowed, limp black curls hanging down and covering his face from view.

“I swear, if you’re planning to put your filthy hands on me again, I’ll make you fall in love with your mother or your father the minute I get out of here,” the god threatened, though his voice was barely louder than a whisper. It was a rasp that told of years of minimal use for anything but screaming, the reasoning betrayed by the evidence of the blood splatters on the ground around him and the still healing wounds on what was visible of his skin.

Percy looked to Apollo for an answer about the god’s identity, presuming – if the look on Apollo’s face was anything to go by – that Apollo’s assumptions had been correct.

Apollo rushed forward, kneeling beside the other god who didn’t even look up to see who was beside him. Instead he flinched away, tugging on the cuffs that prevented him from moving too far. It drew Percy’s attention to the god’s wrists and the permanently chaffed skin that was visible, sore wounds that were sluggishly oozing ichor in response to the movement.

Apollo’s entire body was tense as he reached with a trembling hand to cup the other gods jaw, wincing in response to the flinch the action caused before gently lifting his head so he would look at him.

“Old friend,” Apollo sighed, locking his sky-blue eyes with emerald green that widened at the sight before him. “What have they done to you?”

“Apollo?” Eros, the god of love, gasped at the sight of the first friendly face he had seen in four years.

  
  



	48. The Love God is Incapable of Being Turned Off.

“Holy shit,” Nico gasped from beside Percy, his eyes going wide as he identified the god. There were slight changes in his appearance that, paired with the obvious trauma to his body, made him seem a lot less threatening than the god that forced Nico to confront his sexuality all those years ago. Despite the torment he had felt at Eros’ hand, he knew that Eros did not deserve the damage that had obviously been done to him during his time as Gaia’s captive. The god looked wrecked, barely lucid as he looked up from Apollo and tried to scan the faces of the group crowded around the doorway.

Eros’ eyes fixed on Percy for a moment before they began to lose focus and the god had to shake his head and squint to regain his perspective. “Apollo?” Eros murmured softly. “Where is he?”

“Who?” Apollo asked gently. Deep down, he knew who Eros was asking for. He knew why his attention was fixed to Percy, whose appearance was similar to the person Eros was asking for. He knew that person wouldn’t have come, even if he had sought them out on Olympus instead of going to his father and making the suggestion that it was Eros who was being held, a suggestion that had been dismissed by both Zeus and Aphrodite with laughter. Apparently the concept was ‘ludicrous’ and Apollo was being stupid.

“Last time?” Eros frowned, turning his attention back to Apollo. “He was with you last time.”

“Last time I had to rescue you like this was many millennia ago,” Apollo informed him, trying to fight an inappropriate smile as he remembered the incident well. “Last time, we knew it was you we would have to rescue.”

“Eros has been kidnapped before?” Nico asked from behind him, exposing his identity to the other demigods who didn’t recognise him. Jason, who was at the back of the group and hadn’t seen the god’s face properly, started cursing up a storm.

“It used to be at least a bi-monthly occurrence before he started to render himself invisible when shooting arrows at his targets,” Apollo chuckled.

“This face is too pretty for it not to be seen,” Eros muttered before Apollo could continue.

“That face has gotten you into more trouble than good,” Apollo reminded him before looking up at the demigods. “Aphrodite used to pay people to kidnap him so she could ask other gods to rescue him in the hopes we’d fall in love. We used to be fairly good friends, back in the day, because of an incident when he  _ actually _ got kidnapped and used as bait to lure in other gods because they knew that Aphrodite would send someone after him. I was one of the two that agreed to go and though we had known each other in passing beforehand, it was after his rescue that we became friends. For a time, anyway.” He didn’t voice the reasoning for their eventual fallout.

“I’m sorry about Da-”

“You’ve apologised for that enough,” Apollo informed him, cutting him off before he could speak too much, reveal too much. Really, he needed to spur the demigods into action and free Eros from his bonds, but keeping his old friend talking was good enough while he discreetly took mental notes of his injuries and the state of his body. “That was before we became friends. When we were younger and stupider.”

“Not much has changed on your part,” Eros laughed weakly. He lifted his head slightly and eyed Apollo with confusion. “Where’s your necklace?”

“Oh!” Apollo’s eyes widened as his hand shot to his chest to feel for the charm in the spot it usually lay, a sense of dread filling him in its absence, though he knew exactly where it was. He looked around to Percy who promptly lifted it out from beneath the collar of his t-shirt, seemingly aware that he needed to see it. “I had to nip back to Olympus and I needed some way of finding this lot again, so Seashell has been wearing it.”

“Seashell?” Eros frowned.

“Percy,” Apollo corrected himself, despite the fact that using Percy’s actual name felt strange after using an array of affectionate nicknames to get his attention. “Percy Jackson.”

Eros’ eyes lit up in understanding, recognising the name before peering at Percy properly and smiling. “Perseus,” he greeted softly. “We’ve never had the pleasure of being formally introduced.”

“Eros,” Percy greeted, sounding slightly stiff. Apollo observed as he glanced at Nico beside him, knowing that what Nico would have told him about his meeting with Eros would have coloured his opinion of the god. He also knew that the demigod was naturally wary of the Pantheon; an opinion that was well deserved in his opinion, even if it did make life harder for Apollo. “No, we’ve never met.”

“You were missing, last I heard?” Eros raised an eyebrow. “Olympus was abuzz with rumours, it was the most interesting gossip we’d had since you went missing the first time around.”

“How long have you been down here?” Apollo asked, curious. He had an idea, he just wanted to be correct - no matter how much he wished he wasn’t.

“I don’t know,” Eros answered honestly, clear confusion in his gaze. “You are here to rescue me, right?”

“Of course,” Apollo comforted before turning back to the demigod group. “Keys?”

Luke stepped forward and offered the ring of keys he had used to unlock the door. “Want me to do it or?”

“I’m going to do something undignified like  _ fall  _ when released, and I think you’ll be the only one strong enough to catch me,” Eros warned and Apollo refused the keys with a gentle shake of the head.

“If you could?” He asked, beseeching the son of Hermes with wide eyes.

He waited by Eros’ side as Luke fumbled through the keys to find the correct one to unlock the first cuff around Eros’ wrist and then the one around his bicep before taking the weight of the other god as he pitched forward, off-balance now that one arm was no longer strung up and keeping him in place. He looped the arm over his shoulder, careful not to brush the raw skin and bloodied cuts that littered each spot. Luke made quick work of releasing his other arm and then the shackles around his ankles.

“I’m going to lift you onto your feet, just for a moment, alright?” Apollo warned. “Just so we can move you over to the wall and sit you down. I need to look at your legs as well.”

“Left one is broken,” Eros mumbled into his shoulder and Apollo’s heart skipped a beat.

“What?” He asked, hoping he hadn’t heard the god correctly.

“Left one is broken,” Eros repeated. He had heard him properly and he felt disgusted. The men outside had suffered deaths that were too quick. “Left tibia, possibly in two places. And my ankle as well.”

“When?” Apollo asked, needing to know whether or not he’d have to rebreak them to set them properly if Eros’ godly healing had anything to say. Though, judging by the state of Eros’ bare skin, it wouldn’t pose too much of an issue.

“It could have been yesterday, it could have been last week,” Eros mumbled. “All of the days are the same here. I don’t know when one stops and a new one starts.”

“Zeus above, Eros.” Apollo winced. He didn’t know what else to say to him.

He slid an arm around Eros’ waist and placed the other behind his thighs, gently lifting him up into a bridal carry and hoping it didn’t aggravate his broken leg or any other injuries he wasn’t yet aware of.

“Can one of you raid the other room to see if there’s any bedding or anything soft that Eros can lie on?” Apollo asked, glad that his strength meant he would be able to hold Eros until the task was complete.

“We’ve all got sleeping bags and pillows,” Percy reminded him. The demigod looked around for a moment before looking at Luke. “Where’s Leo’s bag?”

“Good idea,” Luke agreed, disappearing from view for a moment before reappearing with Leo’s red sleeping bag and the feather pillow that the son of Hephaestus had insisted on bringing down from the  _ Argo II.V _ . “Here.”

He watched as Luke spread the sleeping bag on the floor, being careful to avoid laying it on any of the metal brackets that were affixed to the floor to loop chains through with a sense of anger growing within him as he began to notice more and more details about the room Eros had been kept in.

“What can we do?” Percy asked gently after Apollo had set Eros down. What little energy the other god had possessed seemed to have gone, the excitement at the prospect of a rescue taking it out of him. Apollo sighed, about to rake his hand through his hair before realising there was a mixture of ichor and dirt clinging to it.

“Can you go through my bag?” Apollo asked, keeping his eyes on Eros to make sure the other god didn’t pass out before he could get some nectar into him. “Find some nectar, some bandages and my suture kit?”

“You’re not using me as an embroidery project, are you?” Eros asked weakly, looking at him through soft lashes. “I’m not a fan of that idea.”

“Your healing seems to be at none existent levels,” Apollo informed him softly; brushing his thumb against some of the undamaged skin above his mangled wrist, not wanting to cause any further injury. “Some of these cuts are deep. How often did you tear yourself open trying to get out of those cuffs?”

“Hmm?” Eros responded drowsily. “Say that again?”

“Percy, how long until you find that nectar?” Apollo asked, unable to keep the alarm out of his voice. He risked a glance away from Eros’ face, relieved to see Percy rushing back towards them.

“Here!” Percy knelt beside him and dumped the supplies on the floor, starting to separate them into piles before stopping to make eye contact, tilting his head in confusion. “Won’t nectar help heal his leg though? What if it’s at the wrong angle? That’s what you’re worried about, right?”

“Hear this, di Angelo?” Apollo couldn’t let the opportunity to tease Nico pass by. “This one has basic medical knowledge and he  _ wasn’t _ the one who dated my son.”

“Will called me a hopeless patient!” Nico defended himself. “It’s not my fault he didn’t trust me to help him with the others.”

“Dated?” Eros’ eyes flew open again, though they were clouded by pain and confusion. “di Angelo, I tried to do a nice thing for you by setting the two of you up and you’re telling me you  _ broke up _ ? I thought for sure that you would last forever.”

“That doesn’t mean we didn’t try to get there,” Nico responded softly, coming to stand at Percy’s shoulder. “You’ve missed a lot, Eros. Will died.”

“ _ What _ ?” Eros tried to sit up and Apollo had to push him back down.

“Lie down, stupid,” Apollo hissed. “And keep talking,  _ please _ . Percy is right, I need to set your leg before I can give you nectar to boost your healing factor. Otherwise it’ll heal wrong and you’ll hate me when I have to rebreak it.”

“Not as much as you hate me,” Eros responded, hurt in his tone. His eyes widened and he went to move as if he wanted to cover his mouth but cried out in pain instead. 

“I don’t hate you, dumbass.” Apollo shook his head. “Where did you even get that idea?”

“I pushed everyone away,” Eros whispered. “I pushed you all away after what happened because I thought you’d take his side and I didn’t want to get hurt. So I hurt all of you so you’d leave before you hurt me. And you know what else I did.”

“We were friends with both of you,” Apollo scolded. He felt bad, knowing that their audience wouldn’t be able to follow a word of their conversation, but another part of him was glad. He just wished that they could have had their conversation without guests, but he knew from the moment he had laid eyes on Eros and had his suspicions confirmed that it was not going to be the case. “We knew you wanted space, so we allowed you that. It was only when you continued to push us away over the years that we came to accept that maybe you needed more space than we wanted to give you. You are foolish if you think for one moment that we are no longer your friends, no matter what you may have said and done to try and turn us away. And as for what else you did, you’ve apologised for that enough.”

“Being a dick is my first line of defence,” Eros murmured.

Nico snorted from where he was hovering at Percy’s shoulder. “Believe me, I’m familiar.”

“You caught me on a bad day, Mr. di Angelo.” Eros adjusted his position ever so slightly so he could meet Nico’s eyes, an apology flashing in his. “I can only apologise. I wasn’t fair to you in the slightest. I was, perhaps, too harsh.”

“Just a little,” Nico agreed. Apollo watched as Nico’s tense posture relaxed, as if the hurt and anger that was keeping him on edge receded like a gentle tide. Though Apollo supposed the analogy would be more fitting if he were referring to Percy. “I hate to say it, Eros, but I might have been in denial for a lot longer otherwise. I don’t agree with what you did, but I can somewhat appreciate the sentiment because I would have been terrified of my feelings for Will otherwise.”

“What happened?” Eros asked. “Distract me while Apollo does unspeakable things to me.”

“I’m not-” Apollo started to protest before catching the humour that was dancing with the pain in Eros’ eyes in a warped tango. He relaxed a little, realising that he was too caught up in a panic to be any use to Eros if he didn’t. Letting panic cloud his senses would do them no good. “ _ Funny. _ ” He rolled his eyes and gestured for Nico to talk while he fished through the supplies that Percy had returned with.

“What do you want to know?” Nico asked with a sigh.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to?” Eros offered, looking slightly sheepish that he had asked when he recognised the resignation in Nico’s voice. He was probably also aware that in his current state, Nico could best him in a fight with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. And that was being generous to Eros. “I know how it feels when you’ve lost someone and people keep  _ asking.  _ You’re probably sick of the-  _ Zeus’ ass _ , Apollo!” Eros suddenly yelped as Apollo used a knife to slice the threadbare pants he was wearing from the ragged bottom, straight up and through the hip without warning. “Give me some warning before you start undressing me, please, it is only polite.”

“I’m sure you’ve had your pants ripped off plenty of times without warning,” Apollo responded cheekily, rolling his eyes at Eros’ protest. “And honestly, I can’t believe you didn’t ask me to get rid of them the moment you were free. Have you been wearing this stuff for four years?”

As what little of the colour that had remained drained from Eros’ face, Apollo realised the mistake he had made. In the short span of time that had passed between Apollo asking how long Eros had been here, receiving an admission of confusion, and that present moment, Apollo had failed to inform him that he feared it had been four years since Eros had been captured.

Reading Nathan’s diary after Percy had fallen asleep had been what sent Apollo to Olympus with the theory that it was Eros, though his name had not been directly mentioned. Instead, there had been allusions to Gaia using ‘the power of love’ that they had obtained to turn people to their side, evidently planning to force Eros to twist the minds of god and demigod alike. That, paired with the sudden realisation that he hadn’t seen his old friend, even in passing, since before Nathan had carried out his plan that had left his son dead while Gaia was distracted by another major event – obviously Eros’ kidnapping – had left him unsettled and needing answers.

He’d just gone to the wrong source.

“Four years?” Eros’ voice was weak again, a diamond sheen covering emerald eyes. Apollo preferred to see them when they were their natural green, hating it when Eros felt the need to hide behind a glamour that coloured his eyes the same colour as blood. He had often claimed that with eyes being a window to the soul, anyone seeing into his would classify as a weakness they could use against him. Apollo knew it was because he liked to watch people flinch away from the unnatural gaze when they had been staring and objectifying him only moments prior. He also knew that they were an indicator of Eros’ current power levels; anything above ‘nonexistent’ and Apollo would be looking into a blood red gaze.

“Shit, I should have broken that news a little better,” Apollo cursed himself. “Sorry Eros, I didn’t mean for you to find out from a slip of the tongue.”

“I much prefer it when a slip of the tongue involves a tongue slipping into my mouth,” Eros tried to be humorous, but it flatlined when he couldn’t manage a smile. “ _ Four years _ ?”

“I’m so sorry.” Apollo bit his lip. “I didn’t even realise until Rachel issued a Prophecy that told us a god was missing and I seriously began to think about who I have and haven’t seen over the last few years. Nathan had some vague allusions written in his diary, but not your name.”

“Nathan?” Eros’ eyes narrowed.

“Seashell, swap places with me,” Apollo instructed, not having time to go into an explanation about who Nathan was when he should really be paying more attention to healing the god in front of him. “Someone needs to hold his hand for this and I think he’d like to look at the prettiest face.”

“Apollo?” Eros frowned, hurt flashing in his eyes. Emotional hurt, not physical. “Apollo, talk to me.”

“Carry on talking to Nico,” Apollo dismissed Eros as Percy silently shifted around him, despite feeling terrible. “Moonshine and Seashell will entertain you while I look at your leg, okay?”

“Apollo, that’s not-”

Eros let out a scream of pain as Apollo barely brushed his hand against his leg, withdrawing it as if he had been burnt. “Eros?” He asked, knowing that his tone was filled with concern.

Apollo was just glad that aside from Percy and Nico, the rest of their companions had removed themselves into the other room to give them the illusion of privacy – though Luke and Icarus hovered in the doorway, on hand to get anything Apollo asked for. He knew that the love god hated to be seen as weak, to be seen as vulnerable, and that this was a nightmare scenario for him. He’d been able to mask his pain well with conversation and attempted smiles until that point, until he had made only the second vocal acknowledgement of his discomfort. Apollo half feared that he wouldn’t have told him about the broken leg and would have allowed him to lift him onto his feet if Eros didn’t know what Apollo’s reaction to that would have been from past experience. 

“I’m fine,” Eros hissed as if his spine wasn’t arched in pain and he didn’t have his eyes squeezed shut so the emotions in them couldn’t betray him. “Can’t you just give me some nectar and be done with it?”

“Not if you want this to heal  _ properly _ ,” Apollo informed him. “Are you ready for me to touch it again?”

“Yes,” Eros responded through gritted teeth.

“Is that an actual yes or are you saying it because it’s what you think I want to hear?” Apollo frowned at him, hoping he’d be truthful.

“Can’t you just dump me on the healers at Olympus and be done with me?” Eros asked, hackles raised again. “You don’t need to be nice to me, Apollo, just because nobody noticed I was gone. You don’t need to heal me because  _ you _ feel bad for not noticing I was gone.”

Apollo laid a hand on Eros’ leg without warning, not thinking. “Eros, I’m saying this with all due respect-”

“Apollo,” Percy intervened, tapping his wrist so he would lift it away. “I think you can make your point without hurting him for emphasis.”

Apollo flinched, guilt washing over him like a tidal wave. “Why do you always have to try and piss me off?” He asked his old friend with a sigh. “You do realise I’m kicking myself, right?”

“What for?” Eros asked mutinously. He had his eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling, staring at a patch of colour that stood out against the grey and black of the bare rock.

“Eros.” Apollo glared at him. “If you think for one second that I am  _ happy  _ that I didn’t notice you were gone, or think that I am happy that you  _ were  _ gone, I’m going to heal you just so I can kick your ass all over again.”

“How about we don’t threaten the injured god with more injuries?” Percy suggested smoothly. Apollo looked at him and relaxed, thankful that he had company right now. He knew earlier that he had wished that he and Eros could talk without company, but right now the company was the one thing keeping him from throttling the other god. It seemed that Eros’ propensity for ‘being a dick’ - as the god himself had put it - did not come with an off-switch, even when the god was barely clinging to lucidity.

“I can see why you liked this one, di Angelo,” Eros murmured, the edges of his mouth twitching into the approximation of a smile.

“Do you want me to tell you what happened to Will or not?” Nico asked, raising his eyebrow. Apollo turned and caught his eye, mouthing a thank you as Nico’s words worked to sufficiently distract Eros from the tense situation of Apollo’s making.

“How about you tell me about Will?” Eros suggested before turning his head just enough so he could meet Apollo’s eyes. “And then Apollo can tell me if he means the son of Gaia when he referred to ‘Nathan’ earlier?”

Apollo flinched, his eyes going wide. “You know about Burns?”

“Oh is  _ that _ his surname?” Eros raised an eyebrow. “I never knew what it was.”

“That wasn’t answering the question,” Apollo pointed out.

“Yes, I know about Nathan,” Eros confirmed. “According to Aphrodite’s boy, he and his boyfriend were supposed to be showing up soon to escort me to meet with Gaia herself.”

  
  



	49. The God of the Sun has to Double as the God of Responsibility (And it Sucks.)

“Wait, Nathan and Octavian are definitely supposed to be coming here?” Percy asked, relief running through him that the decision they had made to come here first instead of going after Nathan and Octavian had worked in their favour. He’d been terrified the entire time that each turn and new corridor led them further and further away from the person who could bring Will back to life. The decision hadn’t been for naught.

“Octavian?” Eros repeated, looking to Apollo. “Your Roman Legacy? The one who caused quite the stir, if I remember correctly?” 

Dread shot down Apollo’s spine at the mention of the boy, distaste colouring his tone as he answered with a sigh. “Yes, my Roman Legacy.”

“Didn’t he  _ die _ ?” Eros asked, confusion flashing across his face.

“Yes.” Apollo nodded, hating the conversation that he knew they were about to have. “Yes, he did. Nathan is responsible for his resurrection. He actually used your kidnapping as a distraction because Gaia had told him he wasn’t allowed to go through with it, so he waited until her attention was elsewhere and brought him back to life.”

“How?” Eros frowned. “Raising the dead isn’t exactly _ common. _ Or easy.”

“You wanted to know what happened to Will, right?” Nico offered, voice heavy and shoulders hunched. He seemed resigned to the conversation. “I can shoot two birds with one stone by giving you the answer.”

“How does Octavian being resurrected have anything to do with Will dying?” Eros asked, his confusion plain and simple. Apollo sighed, knowing he would have been confused himself if he’d been having this conversation a month prior. Life was so much easier a month ago, but he wouldn’t trade his current existence for said simpler times.

“I hate to interrupt…” Luke interrupted.

“What’s up?” Percy turned to look at his Lieutenant.

“I heard Eros correctly when he said Nathan and Octavian are coming here, didn’t I?” Luke asked.

“Yes,” Eros responded. “According to Aphrodite’s son, they were waiting for their arrival before escorting me to meet Gaia. Which is why they broke my leg, so I couldn’t try and run away the minute I had the opportunity.”

“How would they get you there though?” Percy asked, looking a little green around the gills. Apollo knew that he wasn’t just doing a marvellous impression of Triton, the thoughts running through his head at that moment were likely knocking him sick. “You wouldn’t be able to  _ walk _ .”

“They’d probably drag me,” Eros informed him with far too much false cheer in his tone. Apollo couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at him, daring him to continue to sound thrilled at the prospect of suffering. “It’s not like I’d be able to run very far.”

“So this is our perfect opportunity to capture Nathan and Octavian, correct?” Luke hastily moved on. “Since they’re literally going to walk into any trap we set.”

“You’re right,” Nico agreed, lighting up in a way Apollo hadn’t seen since Percy had admitted that he had finally managed to summon Will but passed out. “We can catch them here and now.”

“What’s the plan then?” Percy asked.

“It’s logical, isn’t it?” Annabeth answered and Apollo watched as Percy’s body tensed and his smile flickered on the boundary between real and pretend. He’d obviously been aiming the question at Luke, who had already proved his predisposition for planning with the night of pranks orchestrated  _ just _ to cover the theft of Nathan’s sword, and wasn’t expecting the daughter of Athena to answer in his stead. “You and Nico can stay in there with Apollo and Eros, we steal the cloaks and helmets off the guards and hide their bodies in with you, lock the door and wait for Nathan and Octavian to arrive. We let Icarus speak because they’ve never heard his voice and if they ask about Tanner, tell them that he was summoned away, invite them to open the door and the minute they have their backs to us, we strike.”

“It sounds suspiciously easy,” Percy responded, shaking his head. “Why does it sound too easy?”

“Because we thought we’d have to chase them through the Labyrinth.” Nico deadpanned. “While monsters chased us.”

“Monsters have chased us,” Percy argued. “Or are you forgetting getting mauled by the Minotaur?”

“You make a valid point.” Nico accepted. “But we still thought we were going to have hordes of monsters after us. That’s why you were so against coming down here even though two Prophecies and two escapees we were chasing suggested it was going to be an inevitability instead of a choice.”

“You’re practically inviting monsters to chase after us.” Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”

“Won’t be our problem if we’re locked in here,” Nico pointed out with a mischievous grin.

“Oh nice one, thanks, di Angelo. Leave us out here for dead.” Luke rolled his eyes. “Annie has the right idea though, simple but effective.”

“I don’t like this idea,” Nico declared, staring at the stack of bodies in the corner. “Why did the guy who can sense the dead have to be locked in with the dead bodies?”

“You’d stab Nathan on sight.” Apollo didn’t bother to look up from where he was bandaging Eros’ leg to the improvised splint. They’d sliced the tip off of a spear that had belonged to one of the guards so they could use the shaft as a splint after Apollo had refused Percy’s offer of using one of his swords on the basis that it would slice through the bandages. He had to admit that he’d considered it for much longer than he should have until Eros had levelled him with a  _ look  _ and made a comment about how his leg really needed a slice taken out of it to complete the injury set. That’s when he had improvised in a  _ different  _ way. “And we wouldn’t stop you, despite the fact we need him alive. For now, at least.”

“Well, yes.” Nico didn’t even attempt to deny it. “But  _ why did the guy who can sense the dead have to be locked in with the dead bodies _ ?”

“It’s not like we could have done anything else with them,” Percy sighed, though Apollo could tell he felt uneasy too. It was a different type of unease to Nico’s, the common unsettlement that came with death. For Nico, having to be in close proximity to the spirits…

Nico sighed dramatically and waved a hand. Suddenly the pile was gone, the rift in the floor sealing as fast as it had formed and only Tanner’s unconscious form was left.

“Nico!” Apollo yelped as the son of Hades staggered slightly, unable to do anything otherwise the bandages would lose their tautness and he’d have to rewrap them. And when he was only wrapping them to keep Eros’ leg in place for a few minutes while he healed him, he really didn’t want to have to repeat the process.

“I’m fine,” Nico informed him before sitting down heavily at Eros’ feet, back against the wall. “I just couldn’t cope with them being in here.”

“On the topic of death; you still haven’t told me how Octavian being resurrected and your boyfriend dying are connected.” Eros piped up. Apollo had to resist the urge to slam his own head into the wall. He was notorious for his lack of brain to mouth filter, but somehow Eros managed to take the title and run with it.

“Oh my gods,” Percy said faintly, unable to stop himself. Apollo looked at him with wide eyes in solidarity, shaking his head.

“You’re right,” Nico sighed, not bothering to argue with Eros. Apollo narrowed his eyes at the demigod, suspecting that he was more exhausted than he was willing to let on. If he dared perform another ounce of Underworld sorcery in Apollo’s presence, the god decided that he would simply have to follow him around with the threat of an IV. It always worked wonders. “I haven’t.”

“Please tell me so I don’t have to focus on Apollo mummifying my leg for no apparent reason,” Eros requested.

“Do you want me to heal your thrice broken limb and then have to rebreak the bones because they weren’t in the right place?” Apollo threatened.

“What I want is a shower but we can’t have everything, can we, Buttercup?” Eros bit back. “I’ve got blood all over me, I’ve apparently not changed these clothes in four years and I’ve not  _ showered  _ in four years. Do you realise how disgusting I feel right now? Apollo, I’ve not washed my hair for four years! My hair!”

“One of your legs is clean!” Apollo reminded him in an effort to cheer him up, having persuaded Percy to swirl water around Eros’ lower leg to clean away the dirt and blood that clung to it before he started to bandage it. 

“Half of my leg,” Eros corrected. “And as clean as the lovely son of Poseidon may have made it, it is incomparable to actually having a shower.”

“Can’t you just,” Nico paused to consider. “Snap your fingers or something and make yourself clean?”

“Do you not think I would have done that by now if I could?” Eros pouted. “I’ve been held captive for four years di Angelo, I think you and Jackson are currently more godly than I am. Also, stop trying to distract me from the conversation we’re supposed to be having. I know what you’re doing, di Angel- _ Ow _ ! Apollo!”

“Yes, Cherub?” Apollo smiled at him sunnily, pretending that he hadn’t just adjusted Eros’ leg slightly while the other god was distracted. “What is it?”

“Warn a guy!” Eros hissed at him.

“You were distracted and talking.” Apollo shrugged. “If I had warned you, you would have tensed up. And then it would have been worse and you would have whined at me more.”

“I do not  _ whine _ ,” Eros whined. “I merely object. In a tone of voice that could be misconstrued as whining.”

“That’s the definition of whining,” Apollo chuckled, turning his attention back to the pile of supplies.

“I’m about to start whining if di Angelo continues to skirt around the topic of conversation,” Eros informed them, forcing Apollo to look up once more and study Nico. The demigod was pale; he couldn’t be certain if it was the topic of conversation, the use of his powers only moments ago, or the events of the day. It was likely an amalgamation of the three, and their day wasn’t about to get any easier either.

He was well aware that the minute they had their hands on Nathan and Octavian, Nico would insist on finding a way to the Underworld without a suggestion of rest. He was also aware that they were going to have to make a choice; with the state Eros was in, they couldn’t put him through a trip to the Underworld. Splitting up seemed like the only logical option, and it would fall to Apollo to transport Eros and some of the others out of the Labyrinth – leaving behind Icarus, Nico, Octavian, and whoever else wanted to stay as well. Percy, undoubtedly. Deep down he wanted to be selfish, wanted to be there when they gave Octavian over to the Fates, but he knew he had to be the responsible party and put Eros’ safety first. Responsible was not a word Apollo commonly associated with himself, let alone a word that other people would associate with him, but it was what he needed to be in the current situation. 

Being responsible  _ sucked. _

“Where do you want me to start?” Nico sighed, breaking Apollo out of his thoughts. He shook his head and refocused on the supplies, realising that staring at Nico wasn’t doing them any favours. Plus, he’d much rather be staring at the other demigod in the room.

“The beginning, di Angelo, where else?” Eros responded.

“In the beginning, there was nothing-”

“ _ Funny _ .” Eros rolled his eyes, cutting him off. “I mean, the beginning of the events that left your boyfriend dead and Nathan’s boyfriend alive.  _ That’s  _ the story I’m after.”

“Way to put it sensitively, Eros,” Percy commented before Apollo could say something along the same lines.

“Apologies.” Eros had the decency to look apologetic. “It seems I’ve lost my brain to mouth filter. I’ve not had a proper conversation for four years.”

“You didn’t have a brain to mouth filter in the first place, no proper conversation for four years or not,” Apollo couldn’t stop himself from snorting before holding two items up. “Ambrosia or nectar?”

“Do you really think I have the strength to eat  _ anything _ right now?” Eros asked with the same affectation that Apollo would have expected from a swooning maiden several centuries ago. “You’re asking far too much of me.”

He fixed Eros with a stare and sighed. “I see that your injuries didn’t go as far as impacting your vocal cords.”

“They did threaten to cut them once or twice when they could hear me singing through the wall,” Eros informed him with far too much cheer for the subject matter. “And when they were torturing me, despite torturing me for information. It really did confuse me, because I don’t think they really expected me to write anything down either because they kept breaking my fingers. Maybe they wanted me to hold the pen in my mouth?”

“They kept  _ what _ ?” Apollo asked incredulously, wondering if he had just heard Eros correctly. “You didn’t say anything about broken fingers!”

“Didn’t I?” Eros responded, having the nerve to try and sound innocent. “I could have sworn I did.”

“Would you care to enlighten me about any other injuries you currently possess?” Apollo asked through gritted teeth. “Kronos’ balls Eros, you can’t just sprinkle it casually into conversation that your fingers are broken.”

“I’m sure you’ll find my fingernails sprinkled around the room if you look really hard.” Eros shrugged. Apollo had to resist the urge to add to his injuries by punching him in the face. “My toenails too, I think.”

Beside him, he could see Percy trying to hide a smile in reaction to the look that was likely on his face; murderous rage that he was desperately trying to suppress.

“ _ Anything else _ ?” Apollo found himself hissing.

“Not that I can think of right now.” Eros shook his head. “Honestly, I’m more bothered about the fact that di Angelo is still avoiding the subject.”

“I think Apollo is debating tearing your head off,” Percy warned the love god. “I’d say he’s about to tear his hair out, but we all know that he would never do such a thing.”

“You’ve got that right, Seashell,” Apollo agreed, having to stop himself from touching said hair. His hands were still far too dirty for his liking and he didn’t want to compromise the integrity of his golden locks. “My hair is  _ sacred _ .”

“Alright, Rapunzel,” Percy teased. “Nobody is going to try and slice it off with a mirror shard.”

“You,” Eros huffed, lifting a hand to point a finger at Percy. “Are conspiring with di Angelo to distract- Apollo!”

Apollo grinned at him, having seized his arm just above where crusted ichor and broken skin signified where the cuffs had been so he could examine Eros’ hand. “You practically waved it in front of my face, Lovebug, you know what they say. Carpe diem, seize the day. So like, carpe hand, whatever the Latin is.”

“You’re literally a god,” Nico deadpanned, staring at him. “You know what the Latin is.”

“Moonshine, do I look like Google Translate to you?” Apollo raised an eyebrow before refocusing on the task at hand. Examining Eros’.

“I shouldn’t have even told you,” Eros complained, putting in a token protest and a small attempt to try and pull his arm away before giving up. “They set them properly so they could heal right for them to break again.”

“I’ll be the judge of their definition of ‘properly’,” Apollo huffed. “Nico, be a dear and distract him? He’ll never shut up and let me do my godly duty otherwise.”

“I should have just asked for the nectar,” Eros groaned, dropping his head back against the pillow. “You can’t even conjure up a nurse’s outfit to make this more entertaining for me?”

“Zeus knows you are testing my ability to refrain from punching you in the face right now.” Apollo adopted a gesture that he had seen his travelling companions do at the mention of godly assistance and looked up, hoping his father’s face would appear in the ceiling like Mufasa and give him words of encouragement.

Though, knowing his father, he’d be far more likely to call Apollo an idiot in no uncertain terms and retreat back to lounging on his throne and listening in to conversations so he could add an appropriate thunder roll at the mention of his name. Or, as Zeus called it, ‘working’.

“Please don’t mention the idea of Apollo dressed as a nurse ever again.” Nico looked truly disturbed.

“Why not, does it bring back fond memories of a certain someone that you don’t want tainted by the image of the boy’s father?” Eros leered.

Apollo  _ really  _ wanted to punch him in the face.

“Zeus knows you are also testing  _ my  _ ability to refrain from punching you in the face right now,” Nico mimicked Apollo’s words. “And no. Just, no.”

“Well if you’re not going to let me have my fun, at least start telling me about Octavian’s resurrection and Will’s death,” Eros complained. “I need some entertainment while Apollo examines my fingers like he’s planning to cut them off and keep them in his fridge as a trophy when he’s disposed of my body.”

“Apollo, I thought you were going to be one of the weirdest gods I had ever met,” Percy informed him, staring at Eros. “I think I’ve been proven wrong.”

“Eros, if you stop talking, I’ll tell you what happened?” Nico offered.

Eros mimed zipping his mouth shut with his free hand. Apollo grabbed that one too, glaring at Eros so he’d remain silent.

Nico started, reluctance plastered clear across his face. “Four years ago…” 

“What do you think they’re talking about in there?” Annabeth asked, breaking the quiet that had fallen not long after they’d locked the door.

Luke glanced over at her, surprised to see that it was him she was looking at and therefore him that she was asking the question to.

“Eros seemed pretty keen to know what happened to Will?” He offered as a response, not knowing what else to say. Despite being separated from Percy earlier, it was the first time they’d had the opportunity to speak about the elephant in the room; Percy’s identity. He knew she had questions, questions she wanted to ask Percy and questions that Luke himself could answer, but he had taken the easy way out before and deliberately avoided her as Icarus had tried and failed to lead them without Apollo there. Now he couldn’t avoid her, stuck waiting for Octavian and Nathan to arrive and a thick wall between them and Percy.

“I feel so bad for Nico,” Annabeth sighed. Her entire posture seemed resigned, slumped and defeated as if she was already beaten. “I- We all missed Percy, but he had more reasons than most. And then one year later he lost Will too? It was heart-breaking to see and there was nothing I could do because he didn’t want to speak to me.” She rubbed her hands on her arms, as if she was cold, eyes fixed on the floor. “I wasn’t surprised or anything, not a lot of people wanted to speak to me after what happened.”

“What happened?” Luke asked, curious to hear her version of events. The rest of the group were deliberately engaging in their own conversations, Thalia practically yanking Jason to look at her to stop him from staring at them intently.

“You’ve probably heard it off Percy, you don’t-”

“Annabeth.” Luke cut her off and shook his head. “I’m not asking Percy. I’m asking you. I want to hear from you what happened.”

“I was so embarrassed that I didn’t tell anyone the truth for a  _ while _ ,” Annabeth admitted slowly. She was still looking at the floor and refusing to look at him. “And by the time I did, a lot of people asked if it was the truth or if it was a convenient explanation I’d come up with. But by then I had no reason to lie about it. I thought Percy was dead and it wouldn’t have mattered what was the truth.”

“Is this something he knows?” Luke asked, unable to stop himself from frowning. He already knew the answer was a negative, that whatever she was talking about wasn’t something Percy knew. They’d had many conversations detailing Annabeth’s part in Percy’s decision to leave in the years they had spent together, with Percy’s frustration over  _ why  _ Annabeth had changed so drastically and so suddenly only increasing over time, though he didn’t like to talk about it. He didn’t like to talk much about what had happened in the weeks leading up to his decision to leave Camp.

“No,” Annabeth almost laughed, shaking her head. “No, it’s not something he would have known then and it’s not something he would have found out from someone else since coming back. I hurt him, plain and simple. I highly doubt he wants anything to do with me.”

“I’m not going to lie to you to make you feel better, Annie, but he will talk to you,” Luke assured her, knowing it was the truth. “He just needs some time to get used to the idea of you knowing it’s him. I know he hoped, and I reckon there’s part of him that still hopes, that he would be able to leave once this is all over without his identity exposed to Camp. When he’s ready to talk to you, he will.”

“I hurt him, I won’t blame him if he-”

“Oh for the love of the gods, Annabeth.” Thalia cut her off, no longer pretending that she wasn’t listening to their conversation and interrupting. “Those of us who have known Percy’s identity haven’t told him what happened out of consideration for allowing you to tell him yourself. But if you continue to be so dramatic about it, one of us will put you out of your misery and just tell him that Nathan got Drew to Charmspeak you into kissing him. Repeatedly.”

“Wait, what?” Luke did a double take, wondering if he had heard Thalia correctly.

“I wasn’t supposed to say that.” Thalia winced. “Sorry Annie, it just slipped out.”

“Thalia!” Annabeth groaned, hiding her face in her hands. “I was trying to break it a bit more-”

There was a squawk and they all silenced as Frank the parrot flew into the room in a blur of blue and yellow feathers, transforming from macaw to son of Mars in an instant. “I heard voices,” he warned as he brushed one or two stray feathers from the stolen cloak he was wearing.

They all scrambled to get into position, Icarus taking the keys from Luke and shoving him to stand on the other side of the door.

“-not get us lost, I merely got a little confused with the co-ordinates we were supposed to be following,” Nathan’s irritated tone became audible a short time later, growing louder as he grew closer. “And how was I supposed to know they’d be stupid enough to lock the door from the inside?”

“Dearest, you just gave me the definition of ‘getting lost’.” Octavian’s laughter bounced down the corridor.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke watched as Jason discreetly withdrew his golden coin from his pocket. He knew from Percy’s stories that it transformed just like Percy’s three swords, but was a better comparison to Maelstrom than any other for it could turn into a sword or spear in the same way Maelstrom could transform into different weapons depending on which attachment of the Swiss Army Knife Percy chose to use. His own hand went to rest on the hilt of his own sword, a sword that Beckendorf had forged for him to replace Backbiter. Despite appreciating the weapon, it had never felt right in his grip, had never felt the same way as the sword he had wielded for several years. It may have been a terrible weapon, reforged from Kronos’ scythe, but it had been a source of strength for him during his time on the other side. He’d been stripped of his identity, his free will, and his family, and for a time it had seemed like the sword was the only thing Kronos couldn’t also take. And then he’d taken Luke’s body and soul, having the sword recast into the scythe, moulded to fit his needs just like Luke had been.

He shook himself out of his thoughts just as Nathan and Octavian entered the room, neither of them bothering to walk in armed.

“Apologies for the delay,” Octavian stated smoothly, giving them a grin that sent disgust crawling down his spine. “Nath was a little rusty at first with the coordinates. Didn’t know his longitude from his latitude, did you hon?”

“Where’s Tanner?” Nathan blurted out, frowning at the occupants of the room. “Mother said Tanner would be here to meet us.”

Luke caught the flicker of irritation that crossed Octavian’s face at the mention of the son of Aphrodite, purposefully storing away the information for future use. There was a reason for it and he wanted to know why.

“Tanner was called away,” Icarus informed him smoothly, lying with ease. “The Earth Mother wanted him to return to Camp because of the unrest your absence has caused. She worries that there will be suspicion thrown onto any demigods with ties to you, especially if they disappear so shortly after you fled with Octavian.”

“Oh,” Nathan sounded disappointed. “I just thought…”

“The prisoner?” Octavian’s voice was clipped and irritated, a scowl now firmly painted on his face. 

Icarus handed over the keys, as planned, and gestured for them to open the door.

Apollo stilled as they heard the key in the lock, fighting his desire to clap a hand over Eros’ mouth to stop him from talking and giving the game away before they’d even opened the door two inches.

Nico was back on his feet, lurking beside the wall in a position that would be hidden when the door was opened and part of him wondered whether he should be asking Percy to hold the boy back. He reached out and laid a gentle hand on Percy’s shoulder, squeezing it in solidarity as the door was pulled open. After some grumbling, the son of Poseidon had donned his mask and cloak once more, not wanting to reveal his identity to Nathan and Octavian in the unlikely event they managed to escape, and both Apollo and Eros had bemoaned the loss of a pretty face to look at. Apollo knew that neither of them would recognise him, despite only looking a few years younger than usual; Octavian used to his Roman visage and Nathan was rarely in Nico’s vicinity when he had visited Camp. 

“Where is-”

Nathan’s question was cut off by the sound and action of Nico’s fist connecting with his face.

  
  



	50. How to (Not) Get Away With Murder.

Percy watched as the most satisfying punch he had ever witnessed connected with Nathan’s face, knocking the son of Gaia flat on his ass.

“Man, that felt good.” Nico grinned, shaking his hand slightly. Apollo’s grip on Percy’s shoulder tightened slightly and he knew that the god was fighting the desire to shoot to his feet and grab Nico’s hand so he could inspect the son of Hades’ knuckles.

“di Angelo?” Octavian’s eyes went wide.

“Octavian.” Nico’s smile was vicious. “I hear  _ you’re  _ the person I have to thank for Nathan killing my boyfriend.”

Octavian turned as pale as a white toga, looking frantically between Nathan and Nico.

“What are you doing here?” Nathan struggled to his feet and peered over Nico’s shoulder. “And why is  _ he  _ here?” He asked when he saw Percy. Then he seemed to notice Tanner’s unconscious form in the corner. “Is that Tan?”

Octavian’s expression darkened, anger flickering in his eyes for a moment in place of fear.

“Guards!” Nathan yelped. “Arrest- Oh.”

The son of Gaia had spun around to find arrows and swords alike, all poised to add a few holes to his body if he made any sudden moves.

“Hi Nathan,” Annabeth sounded inordinately thrilled to be threatening Nathan with the Drakon bone sword Percy recognised instantly. There seemed to be a grim determination in her eyes as she used her other hand to remove the helmet she had been wearing, her hair falling down around her face and shoulders like a golden halo. She looked terrifying. “Sorry, did you expect to see someone else?”

“Annabeth?” Nathan squeaked, terror in his voice. He looked back and forth between those inside the cell and out, confusion growing. “How did you know about Eros?”

At the mention of his name, the god who had only just mastered the art of sitting up without complaining looked as if he was about to stand, stopped swiftly by Apollo. “The minute I regain enough strength to make you fall in love with your own mother, I will.” Eros repeated the same threat they had heard upon opening the cell door. “Or worse.”

“You’re not doing anything of the sort until after you’ve been thoroughly checked over in Olympus’ Infirmary.” Apollo retorted, instantly ruining Eros’ threat. “Anyway, making the boy fall in love with his mother would be tame. Go big or go home. Make him fall in love with Ares, they’ve got a similar amount of brain cells.”

Percy resisted the urge to burst out laughing, shaking his head and hiding his smile in response to Apollo encouraging Eros after disparaging him only moments before. He also had to agree with Apollo’s assessment of Nathan and Ares’ brain cell count.

“Can we please  _ not  _ talk about my boyfriend falling in love with other people?” Octavian’s voice was shrill, a sense of alarm to it that Percy recognised. Despite knowing who Octavian was and what he had done, for a moment he couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, his own heart clenching. He knew the feeling of having to watch the person you loved fall out of love with you and into love with someone else, and it wasn’t something that he would wish on anyone. Not even Octavian. 

Well, maybe Octavian.

“You have terrible taste in men,” Eros informed him. “Him? Really? He’s not even that pretty.”

“I love him. He loves me.” Octavian shrugged as he made the declaration, though to Percy’s ears, he didn’t know who Octavian was trying to convince.

“Surely there were better options than a murderer?” Eros raised an eyebrow. “Because if not, I question your standards if a murderer is a yes, and a completely normal and sane person is a no.”

“I’m not a murderer!” Nathan shook his head, protesting the designation.

“Really?” Nico asked, hand going to his sword. Percy didn’t know whether to intervene or not. “You’re  _ not  _ a murderer?”

There was a distinct ‘oh shit’ that originated from outside the cell, one of their other companions the guilty party. Percy would place his bet on one of the Grace siblings.

“You are not a murderer?” Nico’s words were repeated through gritted teeth, each punctuated as if they were individual sentences. Shadows seemed to crawl up the walls, clawing their way upwards as if they were rising from the grave of the Underworld itself.

“No?” Nathan tried to respond, glancing to see if there were still swords at his back that would skewer him if he were to try and run. There were.

“Nathan,” Nico snarled. “You seriously want to stand there and tell  _ me  _ that  _ you  _ are not a murderer?”

“Yes?” Nathan nodded, though he looked as if he didn’t know whether or not he should.

“ _ Darling _ ,” Octavian hissed. “It appears that di Angelo  _ knows _ .”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “What?”

“ _ You murdered my boyfriend _ .” Nico’s shoulders were shaking, in grief or in anger Percy did not know. Perhaps both. “You murdered my boyfriend just so you could bring back a boy who liked to gut teddy bears for fun.”

“I retract all of my earlier criticism,” Eros piped up. “You used to gut teddy bears for fun? You’re made for each other, without a shadow of a doubt. Aphrodite herself could not make a better match.”

“Eros?” Apollo frowned.

Percy looked at him, noting the concern in his voice.

“Yes, Sunbeam?” Eros raised an eyebrow.

“Just  _ who  _ has been making matches in your absence?” Apollo asked a question that none of them had thought of.

Concern flickered over Eros’ face, eyes going wide. “Oh no.”

“Should we be worried?” Percy asked, wondering what could be so bad. He wracked his brain to think of any knowledge he possessed in relation to Eros, remembering that he commanded a team of ‘Erotes’ who helped create the matches Eros himself made. “You’ve got a team, right?”

“Well, yes,” Eros sighed. “Usually they work off a list I create at the beginning of each year, working through it chronologically and matching the people who need to be matched. If I’ve been gone for four years… They would have completed the list I would have left for that year and then for the last three years, well.” Eros pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know exactly who would have taken over my position.”

“I really do hate to interrupt,” Nico interrupted. “But could we perhaps have this discussion  _ after  _ we’ve tied these two up and decided what to do next?”

Eyes went back to Nathan and Octavian, who had both realised that it was in their best interests not to move. The latter was clinging to the former’s hand as if it was a lifeline, and in a sense, Percy realised that it was. Octavian had proven himself to be smarter than Nathan in the last ten minutes alone; the former Augur had likely realised that if Nico knew what Nathan had done to bring him back, Nico also knew what he had to do to bring Will back. 

He couldn’t help but think back to when he and Luke had chased Octavian into the forest and the Legacy had told them that the last reading he had done suggested that Nathan was going to propose to him soon. Glancing over at Tanner’s unconscious form, Percy wondered whether or not it was the truth or if it was a truth in the sense that Octavian had deliberately read the entrails of the pillow pet in a way that would suggest marriage as a way to convince himself that Nathan loved him. The nebulous use of the word ‘soon’ suggested that it may indeed have been the case, Octavian able to convince himself that ‘soon’ could be defined as any time in the next fifty years.

Part of him felt bad for Octavian, knowing that the other boy was staring down the edge of the gallows, resigning himself to the Fate he had realised the moment Nico had uttered the words that gave away he knew the circumstances that led to Will’s death. A bigger part of him couldn’t feel bad, couldn’t feel that sense of remorse. While Octavian wasn’t complicit in Will’s murder in the sense that he was there when it happened, he had still accepted it and chosen to live the life of another when he discovered the truth behind his resurrection. A better person would have realised that it was wrong from the minute they had learned the truth, a better person would have gone to the Fates themselves and insisted that it be set to rights. Octavian was not that better person. He’d been willing to accept that Nathan had killed a man to bring him back, willing to accept that Nathan had ruined multiple lives so he could live on literal borrowed time – dismissing them as ‘gory details’ that he didn’t want to discuss when asked about. Octavian hadn’t chosen to be brought back in the way he was, but he certainly had chosen to continue to live his stolen life.

“So, what is the plan?” Percy decided to ask, since nobody else looked as if they wanted to. He wanted to defer to Nico on this, he knew that it had been a big ask for them to prioritise finding Eros over finding Octavian – even if it had worked out in the end. He wanted it to be Nico’s plan now, for it was up to Nico how they would go about returning Octavian’s soul to the Fates.

“Eros won’t be able to walk,” Apollo spoke up, looking torn. Percy felt for the god, knowing that he had a duty to both Eros and Nico and he was going to have to choose which one to prioritise. He had a duty to Eros as both a Doctor and as a friend, but he also had a duty to protect Nico in the way he had sworn an Oath to his dying son that he would look after him with the friendship they had forged becoming an added layer of difficulty for Apollo and his decision.

“Yes I can,” Eros bickered.

“Lovebug, you barely have the strength to sit up.” Apollo deadpanned. “I’m already resigning myself to the prospect of carrying you.”

“I’m fine!” Eros gave a token protest, but he wasn’t fooling any of them.

“Name one romantic pairing you can sense.” Apollo challenged. “Then I may begin to believe you.”

“Those two.” Eros pointed at Nathan and Octavian, managing to keep a straight face in reaction to Apollo’s disappointed sigh.

“Eros.” Apollo shook his head. “Name me a pairing you can sense that you  _ weren’t previously aware of _ .”

Eros’ sudden sulky demeanour answered the request for him. He couldn’t.

“I’m not trying to annoy you here, I genuinely am just worrying for your health,” Apollo informed him softly. “You’re one of my best friends, Eros, I can hardly find someone else as annoying to replace you.”

“I  _ excel  _ in being one of the most frustrating gods Olympus has to offer.” Eros winked. “There is no replacing me.”

“Exactly.” Apollo nodded. “Which is exactly why you’re going to have to shut up and let me carry you.”

“Oh the indignity!” Eros pretended to swoon, leaning back against his pillow and pressing a hand to his forehead before sitting back up and talking with resigned boredom. “Fine.”

“Now that we’ve cleared  _ that  _ up,” Apollo sighed at his friend’s antics and turned back to look at them. Percy grinned at him, unable to stop himself from laughing at the hilarity of their squabbling. At least  _ something  _ was providing them with entertainment. “Back to the plan.”

“We never started to make the plan in the first place.” Luke pointed out. “You two were too busy squabbling for us to start discussing the plan.”

“In that case, we really need to start making the plan.” Apollo nodded along.

“Does anyone else feel like the word ‘plan’ doesn’t sound like a word anymore?” Jason inquired.

“Yes.” Percy agreed instantaneously. “But it doesn’t mean that we don’t need to actually make one.”

“Blue is right,” Nico sighed. “We need to make a decision about what to do next.”

“Aren’t you just taking us back to that miserable Camp?” Nathan sniffed derisively. “What’s such a difficult decision about that?”

“Nathan?” Octavian’s voice trembled. “I don’t think they plan to take both of us back to Camp.”

“Of course they will, what do you think they’re going to do, lock one of us down here?” Nathan rolled his eyes. He apparently hadn’t realised what Octavian had realised.

“Nathan?” Nico caught the boy’s attention with a simple call of his name. “I have a duty to my father to return any souls that he did not permit to leave the Underworld back into his possession.”

It dawned on Nathan what Nico’s words meant slowly.

“You wouldn’t.” Nathan’s grip on Octavian’s hand tightened and his expression turned desperate. “Nico, please. Surely you could speak to your father, beseech him on my behalf? I can’t lose Tavy again, Nico, please. You know what it’s like.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

“You’re right, Nathan.” Nico’s voice was deadly calm. “I know exactly what it’s like.  _ You  _ are the reason why I am intimately familiar with the feeling of loss, the feeling of loss when it is because you have lost the person you love. Or did you choose to conveniently forget that you’re the reason Will is dead? I had to mourn him for  _ four years  _ while you taunted me, while you told me that I was the reason he died alone,  _ that I was the reason he was dead _ . And the whole time you knew. You knew that you had killed him and you knew that you were the reason I lost him, the reason why I wasn’t there to hold him in my arms as he took his final breath. I know  _ exactly  _ what it’s like  _ because you killed him _ .”

Nathan flinched.

“If I was a better person, if you were a better person, I’d consider it y’know?” Nico confessed. “I’ve thought about it ever since I found out that I could bring Will back in exchange for Octavian. I wondered if there was a way to bring Will back that meant you’d never have to experience the same pain I’ve spent the last four years feeling with every waking moment, but I came up empty handed and honestly, I don’t feel terrible about it.”

“I can’t lose him, Nico, I’m begging you. I’m sorry, okay?” Nathan was trembling now, both his body and voice shaking at the prospect of having to face his actions. “How I brought Tavy back, it was wrong. I know it was wrong. I knew then that it was wrong. But I’d do anything for him in the same way you’d do anything for Will. And right now, I’d do anything for you to let him stay.”

Percy watched Nico anxiously, wishing that he could see his face. He knew that Nathan’s words would be having an effect on him, whether they were empty promises or not. Apollo’s hand slid off his shoulder and suddenly he was holding hands with the god, forcing him to tear his eyes away from Nico’s back to look at Apollo for a moment. He thought that Apollo was squeezing his hand to give Percy comfort, but judging from the look on his face, it was comforting Apollo more than it was Percy. He didn’t pull away, instead giving Apollo’s hand a gentle squeeze and the god himself a soft smile. He still wanted to speak to him about what Will had revealed; that his death came at the hands of Nathan poisoning him and not from injuries that Apollo had missed, like the god had likely assumed and blamed himself for, but it was neither the time nor the place. 

“How much do you know?” Nico asked, reluctance colouring his tone. 

“What?” Nathan sounded as shocked as the rest of them.

“Your mother’s plans, how much do you know?” Nico asked again, expanding so Nathan would understand.

“Why?” Nathan frowned.

“Holy Styx, you’re thick,” Nico muttered, shaking his head before speaking again at a normal volume. “Look, I’m making no promises and I’m swearing no Oaths. But if you’re co-operative and you have some useful information, I’ll speak to my father.”

“You will?” Nathan looked stunned. 

“ _ After  _ I get Will back.” Nico nodded. “I get Will back and I’ll speak to my father. But it’ll be his decision.”

“I’ll do anything.” Nathan nodded frantically.

“Good.” Nico’s tone was final, he didn’t want to hear any more from Nathan. He turned to face them; Percy, Apollo, and Eros, and grimaced. “We need to split up.”

“I was worried you were going to say that,” Apollo sighed, his grip on Percy’s hand tightening. “I can’t come with you, can I?”

“I need you to look after the others.” Nico bit his lip, an apology in his eyes. “I’ll take Blue and Cera with me and Octavian, but I need you to take everyone else to the surface and find a way back to Camp.”

“In Leo’s bag-” Percy spoke up. “There’s a tracker. You get to the surface and activate it and the  _ Argo II.V  _ will use it as a homing beacon.  _ Leo  _ can use it as a homing beacon. He always wore one on his Camp necklace for Festus to track, no doubt he’s activated it by now so Festus can fly him back to the ship.”

The ‘if he is still alive to do so’ went unsaid.

“What about you though?” Apollo asked, concern clear to see. “How will we find you? I’m not letting you find your way back to Camp through the Labyrinth, or  _ gods forbid  _ via Shadow Travel. Last time I left you down here, Cera couldn’t tell up from down.”

“You could fly to L.A and meet us there?” Percy suggested, hoping to acquiesce the god’s worry. “Main entrance to the Underworld, right?”

He looked to Nico for reassurance, relieved when he nodded. “It’s not like we’ll be sneaking out, Charon will be more than happy to escort us out himself. I’ll be able to see Cerby too, I’ve been neglecting him.”

“What was the name of that place?” Percy found himself peering past Nathan to look at Annabeth.

“DOA Recording Studios?” Annabeth responded, frowning a little as if she was worried about getting the name right.

“What does the DOA stand for?” Piper asked, sounded a little confused. “I could have sworn I’ve heard the name mentioned before. Maybe by my dad?”

“Dead On Arrival.” Nico deadpanned. “Since that’s what the majority of people are when they walk through the door.”

“Good to know.” Piper nodded, though she looked like she regretted asking.

“We’ll be exiting out of there, right?” Percy looked to Nico, their resident Underworld expert.

“Yes.” Nico grinned. “It’ll annoy Charon to the heights of Olympus, but it’ll be worth it. He hates seeing people walk out of there alive.”

“If Blue keeps your necklace, you’ll be able to sense when we arrive back in the Land of the Living, right?” Nico directed at Apollo. Percy lifted his free hand to touch the hyacinth charm, feeling bad that Apollo was going to be separated from something he obviously loved for even longer while Percy continued to wear it.

“It’s in safe hands.” Apollo agreed, though he looked a little reluctant. Though, Percy supposed, he was likely going to be reluctant when it came to anything to do with splitting up and not being able to come with them to rescue his son’s soul. “I’ll be able to feel its proximity. And, hopefully, it’ll mimic my aura enough to trick Cera’s brain into thinking I’m present so you won’t get lost. We’ll hover the ship above the best we can and when the time comes, I’ll pop down, collect you, and then we can be on our merry way back to Camp.”

“What about Eros?” Luke asked.

“I’m more than happy to come back to Camp with you and avoid Thunderface’s questions for a little bit longer.” Eros piped up. “I’m very attached to my Doctor, if I can’t have that exact one, I’ll just have to bemoan the loss of my limbs and resign myself to a life of never being able to shoot a bow again.”

“You are one dramatic bitch.” Apollo shook his head.

“Oh Sunbeam, tell me something I don’t already know,” Eros chuckled. “You wouldn’t deny a dying man his last wish, would you? I just want to keep you as my Doctor, that can hardly happen if you go gallivanting off to Camp Half-Blood and leave me to the mercies of His Royal Frowny-Brows and whatever terrible god is manning the infirmary in your absence.”

“Oh for the sake of all that is holy, you are not dying.” Apollo groaned, looking at the ceiling once again as if he was asking the rest of the Pantheon for strength. “Though it can be arranged.”

“So that’s settled then?” Nico looked around the room for agreement, trying to intervene before Apollo and Eros started bickering once more. “Blue, Cera, and I will take Octavian to the Underworld and you’ll take Eros, Nathan, Tanner, and the rest of the team to the surface?”

“It’s settled.” Apollo nodded, agreeing with a smile on his face. Percy knew from the tense grip on his hand and the flicker of worry in Apollo’s eyes that the god was anything but happy about the agreement.

They’d parted ways quickly after that, Apollo urging them to leave as soon as possible. They’d left the two gods in the company of an unconscious Tanner and a Nathan who’d had tears running down his face as they’d dragged Octavian out of the room.

Silence had settled after Octavian’s pleas to return to Nathan’s side had fallen on deaf ears, though Percy knew from looking at Nico’s face that the pleas had hit a nerve.

“How did your boyfriend know his way through the Maze then, Teddy Killer?” Icarus was the one who broke the silence, glancing over his shoulder to look at Octavian.

The Roman Legacy was dragging his feet along the ground, reluctantly walking along just behind Nico. Their wrists were shackled together so he couldn’t take off and he’d discovered early on that Nico was both stronger and more stubborn than him. When he’d tried to stop and refuse to continue, Nico had just continued to walk. He’d been forced to stumble forward when he realised that Nico had no intention of stopping or even looking over his shoulder to see why his arm was being yanked backwards. Since then he’d grumbled and walked slightly behind Nico, shuffling along and refusing to pick his feet up from the floor like a moody toddler who just wanted to go home.

“Octavian,” He hissed in response. “If you’re leading me to my death, at least have the decency to call me by my name.”

“How did your boyfriend know his way through the Maze then, Octavian?” Icarus amended casually, as if he was asking the question for the first time.

“Do you really care?” Octavian snapped.

“I’m actually fascinated.” Icarus nodded. “You’re a Legacy, right?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Octavian went to fold his arms defensively but had to abort the action when he remembered that he was attached to Nico.

“I’m a Legacy too.” Icarus offered the information freely. Percy would usually be concerned, but he knew Icarus well enough to know that the other boy was using it as a tactic to trick Octavian into freely offering information about Nathan’s inherited powers – something none of them knew anything about without having to get answers from the source himself.

“I’m a descendant of Apollo,” Octavian informed him loftily. “My family has been attending Camp Jupiter for generations, we probably have more notable demigods in our family than you could ever dream of.”

“I’d say my father is pretty iconic,” Icarus couldn’t keep the laughter out of his voice. “And I’d say I’m pretty notable myself.”

“I doubt I’d recognise you,” Octavian sniffed.

Icarus pushed his hood down and removed his mask before turning back and giving Octavian a sunny smile. “I’ve been dead for many millennia, so I doubt you’d recognise my face. My  _ name  _ however…”

“And what would your name be?” Octavian asked, still sounding derisive.

Icarus reached out and tapped the wall. “My father built this Maze, that is how I know how to traverse it.”

Octavian tripped, almost falling into Nico. “You’re  _ Icarus _ ?”

“One and the same.” Icarus laughed. He always seemed to take pleasure in people’s stunned reactions to his presence, finding delight in the fact they always seemed to be shocked by both his appearance and his age. And the fact he was alive. “We’re taking the left up ahead.”

“Nathan can gauge where we are using coordinates.” Octavian offered up. “So we basically took whatever direction would lead us closer towards the coordinates of Eros’ cell. It took a little trial and error, it’s not like he could practice his powers openly at Camp Half-Blood without giving the game away, so we got a little lost at first. But he got the hang of it quite quickly.”

“I heard that the Labyrinth collapsed after my father died?” Icarus questioned, adding just enough confusion and innocence to his tone to make it seem like he was genuinely making conversation, not just fishing for information.

“It was reformed a few years back,” Octavian informed them and Icarus reacted as if he was hearing the information for the first time. “The entrance in Camp had been filled in; so when Nath’s mom decided to hide Eros down here, he decided it would be in our best interests to reopen the entrance so we would have it as a viable escape option. That’s all it was going to be at first, but then we realised that we could use it to get me in and out of Camp without knowing, and well, I couldn’t spend my entire life hiding in his Cabin you know? We had the route to New York marked out by the time we actually were using it as an escape, but you probably could have followed us by the number of footsteps that led there and back.”

“I never thought I’d walk within these walls again,” Icarus murmured. It was no longer clear whether he was addressing Octavian or speaking to himself.

“Are you…?” Octavian started before stopping.

“Am I what?” Icarus turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Are you the same age now as you were when you died?” Octavian asked, sounding slightly awkward. “Or did you get aged up to match the rest of the group?”

“Common misconception,” Icarus assured him. “I wasn’t like, twelve, when I died. I look the same today as I did the day I died. Just with a few added burn scars. I fell for the sun that lit up the land beyond the tower walls and I paid the consequences with my life when I tried to go too close.”

Percy’s eyes widened, wondering if he had just heard Icarus correctly. He had never spoken about his death in such a way, always attributing it to the waves that pulled him under. He never liked to speak about the melting wax that had burned the shape of wings into his body, a permanent reminder of how he died, even though he had chosen to be known as the Latin word.

“I always thought you were younger,” Octavian sounded slightly faint. “I know what you mean about burn scars though, I have a few of my own. I was blinded by my ambition and didn’t realise what it was doing to me until I was flying through the air, burning alive.”

“Not a pleasant experience, right?” Icarus shuddered before looking back to the oncoming junction. “We need to go right.”

“What do you think will happen to me when I’m in the hands of the Fates?” Octavian directed at Nico, digging his heels in and refusing to move.

Nico tensed, looking as if he was about to ignore the question and continue to drag Octavian forward for a moment. Instead he stopped, turning to face Octavian and therefore Percy.

The expression on his face was troubled and he shrugged and shook his head. “Honestly Octavian, I can’t answer that. I presume you’ll be returned to the Fields of Asphodel, but I can’t make any promises. I’ll have to consult my dad.”

“Lord P- Hades would like to see my soul burn in the Fields of Punishment for my part in Will’s death, right?” Octavian asked.

Nico closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before meeting Octavian’s eyes. “It’s not like you were an active participant,” Nico stated, even though it clearly pained him. “It won’t be up to my dad anyway, it’ll be the Fates who dictate what will happen because they are the ones who possess Will’s soul.”

“Are you certain?” Octavian asked.

“No,” Nico sighed. He shook his head and grimaced. “I can’t be certain. I can only guess.”

“Honestly, you’d best guess quickly,” Icarus informed them. He’d disappeared for a moment, down the right fork, while Octavian had been refusing to follow without questioning Nico. It was obvious that he’d heard the conversation, looking between the two of them nervously, so he hadn’t gone too far before returning to them. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and gave them an awkward grin. “Because there’s an entrance to the Underworld just down there.”

  
  



	51. Atropos, We've Come to Bargain.

Once they had passed into the Underworld, Nico had hoped that being in familiar territory would make him feel better.

Nico was wrong.

There was a heavy sense of dread in his chest, guilt and concern battling for dominance the closer he led them to the Cave in which The Fates resided. The fact he was literally shackled to Octavian aided him in no way shape or form, knowing that he was physically dragging him closer to his demise. He should have agreed when Percy offered to be the one chained to the Roman Legacy instead of insisting that it should be him. He couldn’t help but feel guilty that he was going to be responsible for Nathan losing a loved one, despite Nathan being responsible for him losing Percy  _ and  _ Will, especially when the latter had seemed far more permanent than the former until just a few days previous.

There was also the concern that this was all going to be for naught, that The Fates would laugh and tell him that the exchange was permanent and there would be no trade. It was his worst fear at that moment, and the closer they got to the Cave, the more he wondered whether or not he wanted to face that fear.

“Are you okay?” Percy asked softly, making him realise that he had frozen at the end of the path that had led them from the Labyrinth into the outer rings of the Underworld. He knew that they were somewhere between the entrance to Tartarus and his father’s palace and part of him wanted to take off running towards it, to run into the embrace he knew his father would give him.

Despite the rocky start to their relationship, it had eventually blossomed like one of the flowers in Persephone’s garden and his father now doted on him in the same way Poseidon doted on Percy. If he went to him now, Octavian in hand, his father would surely go to The Fates for him, saving him the heartache and pain of having to stand there and try and negotiate a trade; the soul of Octavian in exchange for the soul of Will Solace.

There was no ‘til death do us part’ in relation to his love for Will, it had surpassed the grave long before Nico had known he could return him to the land of the living. Despite the guilt he had felt for four years because he had missed his final moments, had missed being there to comfort the love of his life as he passed from one life to another, he had never stopped loving him. He hadn’t wanted to.

“I’m fine.” He managed to choke out when he realised that Percy was still waiting for an answer. “I was just thinking about what direction we needed to take.”

It was a blatant lie and it was obvious from the gentle look in Percy’s eyes that he wasn’t fooling him. He just hoped he had fooled Octavian at the very least; Icarus too, if he was lucky. He knew that he was lucky enough that Percy had simply nodded and didn’t call him on it.

“The path that leads from my father’s palace to the Judgement Pavilion is just over there.” Nico pointed with his free hand, hoping that Icarus would take Percy’s lead and not bother to ask him why pointing at a path he knew well had taken so long. He also hoped that Octavian would just not talk. “We’ll follow that past the Fields of Asphodel until we get close to Cerberus and the Main Gate. There’s a small path that leads from the main path to the one that runs along the Walls of Erebus, which is where The Fates have their Cave.”

“We’ll let you lead the way,” Percy invited, giving him an encouraging smile.

He started to lead, wondering why his feet felt as if they were made of lead.

“Down here,” he finally found himself saying.

The path that cut through the very edge of the Fields of Asphodel was thankfully a short one, though it was still a path that he had to drag Octavian down as the Legacy eyed the nearby souls who wandered in the Fields with uninhibited fear. He was obviously well aware of the fact he had formerly been one of those very souls, wandering around for eternity with dead, unseeing eyes. None of them knew if Octavian would be returned to Asphodel or if his future accommodation would involve a little more  _ punishment.  _ Nico had to be thankful for the small mercy that meant it was the Fields of Asphodel that they had to cut through and not the Fields of Punishment because he was fairly certain they would have had to carry Octavian, kicking and screaming.

“How much further?” Octavian surprised him by asking, the first time he had spoken since they had entered the Underworld.

“All we have to do now is walk along the Wall until we reach their Cave.” Nico gestured to the looming black rock beside them. It towered above them, seemingly stretching forever into the infinite darkness above and radiated a chill that permeated their bones. He’d always hated this part of his father’s realm, preferring to stay close to the Palace and the faux heat that it generated. The Walls unnerved him, unnerved even his father, as the only people who liked to walk them were The Fates and the Kindly Ones. Nico preferred to avoid both groups of terrifying women, thus avoiding all areas that provided a higher risk that they would run into one another.

And now here he was, actively seeking out The Fates.

If, even a month ago, someone was to tell him that he would be walking the Wall of his father’s realm to purposefully seek out The Fates, he would have laughed and asked if they had broken into the wine cellar that Dionysus had been cultivating beneath the Big House, just waiting for the day he would be able to uncork a bottle and pour wine instead of Diet Coke. His father had instilled a wise fear of The Moirai in him, warning that not even a god could tamper with Fate.

Hades had surprised him when he had willingly gone to The Fates seeking answers in the aftermath of Will’s death – even if the trip had been for naught. He’d wanted to ask, wanted to beg that his father at least try to reason with them despite knowing that he possessed a healthy fear of the three women that could even change the fate of the god of the dead. He hadn’t had to in the end, his father going willingly without Nico having to ask.

“Is that the Cave?” Percy was the one who saw it first, asking quietly as if the mention would call one of The Fates from within.

Nico stopped, rooted to the spot. His heart was beating frantically in his chest; this was it, this was going to end in either tears of happiness or tears of anguish. He sincerely hoped for the former, his lips tingling at the memory of the ghostly kiss that had woken him from his unconscious state. He wanted to feel that sensation once more, wanted the lips that would touch his to be the warm ones he knew so well. His first kiss, the first boy to return his love. A small smile flickered across his face as he imagined Will teasing him lightly, calling him Sleeping Beauty once again as he kissed a half-awake Nico before he’d be slipping out of Nico’s Cabin to start his shift in the Infirmary. He was certain he was going to hear the nickname in reference to Will’s ghostly kiss waking him, even if he hadn’t known what it was at the time.

“Nico?” Icarus spoke softly. “Are you ready for this?”

“Yes,” Nico declared, despite himself.

While his emotions were at war within him, there was an overriding feeling of hope that cancelled out his guilt and concern. Hope that this would be the first stroke of luck he had in four years, hope that at the end of the day, he would be reunited with Will and threatening to never let him leave his sight again. Will was going to know exactly how Nico felt when he’d ordered him to stay in the Infirmary under his supervision for three days after the war; though Nico absolutely would not be allowing him to disappear three days afterwards. He was never going to let Will disappear on him again.

“Excellent,” a familiar voice sent chills down Nico’s spine and he looked up to see that Atropos, the Fate he was the most familiar with, was standing in the Cave entrance. Her form was wizened, though he knew that he shouldn’t let the guise of an old lady fool him. She was The Fate of Death, the one who wielded the scissors that cut the literal yarn and the life it represented. She was the one who chose how people died, whether their deaths would be peaceful or if they would be dragged screaming into the night.

She was terrifying.

“Atropos,” He greeted, bowing his head out of respect and hoping that the other three would take his cue.

“Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades,” Atropos bowed her own head in response, a few silver wisps escaping the white bandana. “I presume you bring Octavian here to bargain?”

“I do.” Nico nodded.

“Bring the boy and the Son of Poseidon into the Cave of my sisters,” Atropos instructed. She stared at Icarus with displeasure, the Legacy who had been resurrected by Hades’ hand shrinking under her gaze. “The one that was resurrected at your father’s hand, he stays out here. Chaos and the other Primordials may be the only ones who are not directly answerable to us, so we let him take their souls with no quarrel, but we would have no choice but to return him to his life in Elysium if he was to be so bold as to walk into our midst.”

Icarus nodded gladly, looking relieved to have been given an excuse to not enter the Cave of The Fates. For a moment Nico felt jealous of him, wishing that he was the one instructed to stay outside while Percy and Icarus took Octavian inside but he knew that he would hate to stand there, not knowing what was happening within.

He took a deep breath and followed Atropos into the darkness.

“Nico di Angelo, we have been expecting you on our doorstep each day since your boyfriend passed,” Lachesis informed him after they entered, Atropos going to sit between her sisters in the prime position to cut a yarn that stretched between Clotho and Lachesis. The Fate of Life, the one who decided the length of the yarn, smiled at him and gestured to the item that they were knitting. It was painfully obvious to him what it was supposed to represent; the golden yarn, that reminded him so viscerally of Will’s hair, beginning the project only to give way to a purple hue that he had seen so commonly around Camp Jupiter. “We were beginning to think you’d never darken our doorway, that your father’s visit would be the only inquiry into the death of Will Solace.”

“I didn’t know,” Nico found himself saying. “I didn’t know the truth about the circumstances of his death until a few days ago.”

“We thought you would come seeking answers sooner.” Clotho looked him directly in the eyes. “You have sought answers for nigh on four years, yes?”

“Would you have given me answers?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“It would have all depended on the questions you asked.” Atropos informed him. 

“When my father came, you laughed at his questions and told him not to meddle in affairs that he did not understand.” Nico pointed out, a small flash of anger striking through his chest as he recalled the day with clarity.

It had been just over a week since Will’s passing, a few days since Persephone had forced him from his bed and into the bathroom, telling him that she would not leave him be until he had showered, dressed, and joined them for breakfast. That she didn’t want to see him wallow in his misery, for it to consume him until it had swallowed him whole and he became another spirit of the Underworld. Persephone’s voice had been firm but gentle as she reminded him that Will would not have allowed him to neglect himself; that he would not have allowed him to waste away and allow the shadows to reclaim him after Will had essentially waged war on the ones that danced around him in the aftermath of the Giant War, tendrils grabbing at his clothes and body in an attempt to pull him into a macabre embrace. He had acted as a beacon of light that Persephone urged him to keep alit as an immortal flame, even if the light in Will’s eyes was no longer there to guide him. He had forced himself to get out of bed, shower, and dress on autopilot, her words repeating in his head as he went through the motions – a constant reminder of when Will used to joke and tease that he would never be able to Shadow Travel away from him because he banished all shadows with his presence so he was stuck with him.

Nico remembered not knowing how he got from his bedroom to the breakfast table, the look of concern on Hades’ face when he realised that his son was present physically but not emotionally, despite his initial relief that Persephone had been able to coax him from his room. He remembered Demeter taking away the bowl of cereal he had mechanically reached for, replacing it with a plate of fluffy pancakes that had tasted like ash in his mouth. He’d eaten them anyway, trying to choke them down as he remembered lazy mornings when Will didn’t have to go to the Infirmary at first light but he’d be filled with energy regardless - a direct contrast to Nico’s slow attempts to wake – so he’d abandon Nico at the Hades Table and come back with breakfast for them both, talking enough for two until Nico was stealing extra pancakes from Will’s plate and laughing at every joke.

Hades had seen his face crumble when Demeter made an accidental comment about Nico needing to get some sun after being cooped up for the week and he had risen from the table, face stony and stern. He’d allowed neither his wife nor his mother-in-law time to argue when he had declared he was going to The Fates, swirling out of the room with darkness and despair at his heels. Nico had sat at the table until he returned, refusing to move in case he missed his father’s return with information. Persephone had spoken to her mother in low tones, the older goddess disappearing and reappearing with a blanket that she had liberated from Nico’s Cabin. They’d set it around his shoulders and he had drawn it close, breathing in the scent of sunlight and Will that permeated it and he’d stayed there until his father had re-entered. The fact his face was filled with enough thunder to rival Zeus and the room had seemed to drop in temperature upon his dramatic entrance signalled that it was bad news. The Fates had told him nothing.

“It was not a matter that Hades needed to concern himself with,” Atropos dismissed his words easily, shrugging her shoulders. It only served to fuel the fire of irritation that was burning within Nico.

“Any instance in which a life is taken is one that Hades can choose to concern himself with.” Nico shook his head. “Would you have said anything else to me, other than it was not something I should concern myself with?”

“It would have depended on when you came to us,” Clotho answered as she reached down and pulled a new gold thread from the basket that sat underneath her chair. It was an exact match for the thread that the purple had strangled and usurped and Nico’s breath caught in his throat. “There were times when we would have been prepared to give you answers. There were also times when we would have turned down your request for them.”

He sighed, resisting the urge to snap at them because he knew it would get them nowhere. “Were you not concerned that there was a Son of Gaia who committed murder in order to resurrect someone we knew to be dangerous?” He asked instead, curious to know what their reasoning would be. If they  _ had  _ any reasoning.

“You forget, Son of Hades, that we are the ones who see the events that will come to pass,” Lachesis hummed as she leaned past Atropos to study the yarn that Clotho was idly playing with. She didn’t take the end that Clotho offered her, instead sitting back and giving Nico a wicked grin. “We are the ones who decide whether or not to accept Octavian’s soul back into this realm.”

He could feel his heart beating in his chest, almost certain that it was audible to the rest of the room.

“Perhaps the Legacy of Apollo, the god we often speak through, would like to plead his case?” Atropos raised an eyebrow. There were a pair of shears resting on her knee, shears that were wicked and silver. He could tell just by looking at them that they were as cold as the woman whose reflection they showed, chilled by both Atropos’ presence and the frigid temperature within the Walls of Erebus.

“What?” Octavian squeaked, having been stunned to silence in the presence of such ancient beings that would determine whether he would live or die. They had already cut his yarn once, with Atropos being the one responsible for the time and method of his death. Nico knew that he had stopped Will from warning Octavian because of the words of his father; a warning that some deaths could not and should not be prevented. Despite that, he couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he had decided to ignore his father’s advice that day. Would he be standing there, about to plead for Will’s life?

“Your case to remain in the Land of the Living, Octavian, surely you have one?” Lachesis prompted.

Nico wanted to speak up, wanted to demand to know why they thought he should be given the opportunity to beg to continue living the life he had stolen. Logically, however, he knew that The Fates would see it as a slight. Against all instinct, he kept his mouth shut.

“I’ve spent the last four years building a life with someone I love,” Octavian informed The Fates, stating it as if it should be obvious, as if he was explaining something to a child. “While I may regret the way I was brought back into this world, I certainly don’t think it warrants me being yanked from existence at the whim of a Son of Hades who is merely upset that his control over life and death is not absolute. I also think there is more I can offer to the gods than Will Solace; I can provide them with information and names in regard to the Earth Mother’s plans and who is on her side. Will Solace has been dead, cold in his grave, for four years and that therefore renders him useless. I am the more valuable asset.”

Suddenly, any shred of remorse and guilt that Nico had felt ever since he had learned that he would have to emulate Nathan and swap a soul for a soul was eviscerated. Beside him, Percy’s jaw dropped ever so slightly and there was a look of anger in the Son of Poseidon’s eyes that made Nico want to grab Percy and transport the three of them onto a beach somewhere and let the other boy unleash his powers on Octavian.

“Son of Poseidon, what is your opinion on the matter?” Atropos turned her attention to Percy, looking at him expectantly.

“I’m biased.” Percy admitted immediately. “I’m biased because the boy beside me is my brother in every way but blood. And I left him. I left him for five years and when I came back, I knew there was something wrong. There was something wrong with my brother, something had upset him and I didn’t know what. I didn’t want to ask either, I wanted to wait until he could trust me enough once more to tell me. And when he told me that he had lost Will, lost someone who had meant so much to him, I was prepared to storm the Underworld singlehandedly. Then I realised who I was talking to; a Son of Hades who could walk in and out of his father’s realm as he pleased, a Son of Hades who would have done everything in his power to restore Will to life. It didn’t add up, it didn’t make sense. The look on his face when he told me that he didn’t know where Will’s soul was, that he hadn’t been able to speak to him since before he died, it broke my heart. My brother was hurting and I couldn’t do anything to help.”

“And when you discovered what Nathaniel had done?” Lachesis prompted him to continue.

“I was prepared to bring Octavian down here myself, to return him to your hands and ask that you exchange him for Will, without telling Nico.” Percy confessed. “I realised there was a way I could alleviate his suffering without having to tell him something that would make him suffer even more until afterwards. And, if I couldn’t succeed, I was prepared to lie to him, to take the truth to my grave to save him from the knowledge that Will’s death was not the tragic accident everyone thought it was.”

“Son of Hades?” Atropos shifted her gaze back to him, piercing him with silver eyes that matched the shears that sat in her lap. She had a hand on them now, no longer ignoring their existence, while Clotho continued to toy with the golden stand that she had drawn from her basket. “You would like your boyfriend back, yes?”

“I’d do anything.” Nico nodded automatically, saying the words without thinking.

“You would give us the soul of the boy currently chained to you in return for Will Solace’s soul?” Lachesis asked. “You would condemn the boy beside you to whatever punishment we saw fit to give in response to flouting the ancient laws of life and death?”

“Yes,” Nico agreed. “I know you well enough to know that if you would bestow a punishment upon Octavian, it would only last for the same amount of time he flouted your laws. It would be Nathan you punished for an eternity upon his death.”

“Luckily for you, Octavian, Legacy of Apollo, the Son of Hades is correct.” Clotho nodded. “You were not the one who broke the laws of the dead, but you are the one who chose to continue living your stolen life. It would only be that which we punished you for, if we were indeed to bestow a punishment.”

“Tell us about why you want to restore Will Solace’s life,” Atropos requested.

Nico stood there for a moment, fully prepared to issue a speech about the complexities of life and death, the natural balance and why not letting Will live again would break several ancient laws. Instead, he opened his mouth and something else spilled out. “He makes me happy.”

It was the truth, plain and simple. The inescapable truth that he had been running from for four years; though it had been as if he had been running on a treadmill, forever cursed to run forward but never put any distance between himself and the concept that he would fall backwards into if he was to stop running and allow the treadmill to carry him back.

“He makes me happy,” He repeated with more conviction. “He makes me happy, he made his siblings happy, and he made the rest of the Camp happy. He cared for people, he would heal them either in the Infirmary or with laughter and kind words. He was one of the first people I felt a true connection to, one of the first people that I wasn’t afraid of showing myself to. In my dark days, I think of the good times we had together. Even though the memories hurt, they still make me happy. And I want an opportunity to fix what happened between us before I lost him. I want more chances to make happy memories, I want to be able to love him for the rest of our lives – however long you choose to make them.”

The three Fates nodded, exchanging knowing glances before looking back to Nico

“And you would prioritise Will Solace over any other?” Lachesis asked.

“Yes.” Nico responded, though he didn’t know why they were asking. He looked to Percy for reassurance, worrying when he only shrugged and looked as troubled as him. For a moment he worried whether or not they should have let Icarus stand outside alone.

“Perhaps,” Clotho reached down and pulled an item made of red yarn from her basket. It was burnt and singed in places, one place visibly tied back together in the midst of a massive burn mark. “Leo Valdez would be a good example?”

Dread started to claw its way up from Nico’s stomach.

“Leo’s fine.” Percy argued, shaking his head. “He went to Calypso.”

“Perseus Jackson, you know from your own experiences that no hero finds Ogygia twice,” Atropos laughed, high and steely. “You honestly think that Leo Valdez found Calypso twice? With what guidance?”

They both heard Octavian gasp at the mention of Percy’s name but it was neither the time or the place to acknowledge it.

Suddenly Nico remembered Percy telling him that Will said The Fates didn't know about his excursions from their possession, that they had no idea that he was visiting them in the Labyrinth. He elbowed Percy to make him quiet, hoping that the Son of Poseidon would understand not to blurt out the ace they held. The Fates were trying to trick them, trying to trick  _ him _ . They wanted him to choose Leo, wanted him to choose his brother over his boyfriend when he knew only one of them was dead and therefore in their hands.

He wanted to shake with rage, bring down the Wall of Erebus on their heads.

Instead he took a deep breath and shook his head. “Will,” He stated, though the name felt thick in his mouth. “I’d choose Will over Leo.”

It hurt him to say, despite having the knowledge that he truly wasn’t choosing between them.

“Really?” Lachesis’ eyes widened. “You would still choose your boyfriend over the boy you thought you had killed once before when you didn’t prevent the death of Octavian?”

Nico felt sick to his stomach at the reminder, but he still nodded. “I’d trade Octavian for Will.”

“The boy’s choice has been made,” Clotho declared, dropping the red yarn back in her basket and keeping the gold one in hand. “He would trade the soul of Octavian for the soul of Will Solace.”

“A choice has been made,” The three of them declared as one.

“Hand over your offering,” Atropos instructed.

“Nico, please.” Octavian started to beg as Nico turned to accept the key from Percy.

He ignored him, hope coursing through his veins as he undid the manacle that bound him to Octavian. With it, he felt the weight of the last four years being lifted from his shoulders, handing it over to The Fates with one of those responsible for the burden of his guilt. He felt a sense of hope and anticipation, feeling as if he was floating with the knowledge that soon it would be Will’s arm around his shoulder, Will’s touch against his wrist.

Octavian dragged his feet as Atropos reached out and beckoned for him to join them, but his body jerked like a puppet and carried him across the room as he screamed and protested. He was sandwiched between Lachesis and Atropos, held between life and death.

“Your father will be pleased to hear you captured an escaped soul,” Atropos informed him, a wicked glint in her eyes. “Though, he will say it’s a shame you no longer use Oaths sworn on the River Styx to ensure a promise.”

Before he could say anything in response, before he could cry out in protest, the four of them vanished.

For the first time in four years, the light he had carried with him extinguished. The hope in his heart died.

They hadn’t returned Will.

  
  



	52. Percy Considers Taking the Worst Bath of His Life (Again)

Nico felt as if he had been frozen, felt like the chill the Walls of Erebus radiated had slipped inside him and made a home in his muscles. He was rooted to the spot, forced to stand and stare at the spot he thought he would see his boyfriend standing in as he took his first breath.

Instead the spot was empty, an icy hand curling around his heart and stealing the air from his lungs. He thought that it would be the sight of Will before him once more that would steal his breath away, instead it was the exact opposite. The sudden realisation of absolute loss took hold of him and he couldn’t catch his breath, grief washing over him like a tsunami. The warm feeling of hope he’d carried in his heart since learning Will could have been brought back had been extinguished with the light that had kept him going for four years. He felt cold and empty, unsure of what to do next.

“I thought I’d get to see him again,” He found himself admitting in the deathly quiet, knowing that Percy didn’t want to speak until he did. He was thankful for him in that moment, thankful that he knew Nico needed a quiet moment to realise what had happened, to reflect what he had lost without ever really having it back in the first place. “I thought we were going to get a second chance.”

“Nico,” Percy melted, opening his arms in an offering of a hug. Nico could see the sheen of tears in his eyes, tears to match the ones running down his own cheeks and he knew they were for him. He knew he was breaking his brother’s heart by breaking in front of him and he couldn’t help but crumble, falling into the warm hold of Percy’s love that he offered unconditionally.

“I thought I’d get to see him,” He found himself repeating as he started to outright sob, tears dampening the shoulder of Percy’s cloak. He couldn’t tell if there were that many thoughts running through his head that he couldn’t isolate any of them or if his mind was just blank and void of thought. “I really got my hopes up this time.”

“I got my hopes up too,” Percy admitted softly as he stroked Nico’s back.

“Tell me,” Nico demanded, though his voice was muffled. He didn’t want to pull back and see the pity in Percy’s eyes, pity that he knew would be there. “Please?”

“Are you sure?” Percy asked, showing his concern for Nico’s feelings.

“Yes,” He sniffed. He could feel the panic beginning to rise from the depths within him, panic that would take hold and cause him to spiral if he allowed it to continue. “Please Percy, just talk.”

“I was really looking forward to seeing you smile again,” Percy confessed, thankfully knowing not to argue with him. “I wanted to see you smile again with uninhibited happiness, for you to smile without suddenly stopping and being overtaken by guilt. I’ve not seen you smile like that since you were that pain in the ass kid who was asking me if I knew how to surf because of my dad when my best friend had just been carried off by a manticore. I wanted to murder you then, but now I’d do anything to get that kid back whose only worry was Myth-o-Magic. I wanted to be there when mom asked if you brought a boyfriend to brunch and you got to say yes. I wanted to spend the morning laughing as Estelle asked you 101 questions about Will before declaring she wanted to be just like him when she grows up. I wanted the opportunity to grill Will over his intentions with  _ my _ little brother, to be able to play the big sibling role that I never really got to. I wanted to see you  _ happy _ .”

“Can we go?” Nico finally pulled back, purposefully not looking to the spot that all of his hopes and dreams came crashing down. “I don’t want to be in here anymore, I want to go.”

“Are you sure?” Percy raised an eyebrow. There was no judgement, no pity. He was offering Nico a longer time to grieve before they had to walk out of the Cave and face the first bout of questions from Icarus with no hidden agenda. 

“I’m sure,” Nico insisted. He didn’t sound convincing to his own ears, he didn’t even want to think about what Percy heard.

“Okay.” Percy didn’t call him on it, thankfully. He just stood there and waited until Nico took a deep breath and started to walk towards the exit.

Icarus was pacing outside, his face lighting up when he realised they were emerging. Percy could pinpoint the exact moment he realised what had happened because his smile dimmed and soft sympathy replaced it. He kept his mouth shut though, which is more than some of their other companions would have done in that situation. Instead he gave Nico a sad smile, giving the Son of Hades time to address it if he wanted to.

“They took Octavian,” Nico informed him, his voice void of emotion. “They didn’t honour their word about Will.”

“Nico-”

“Please.” Nico cut him off, heartbreak in his voice. “I don’t want to hear any apologies right now. I just want to get out of here.”

Icarus nodded. “Lead the way.”

Percy kept a close watch on Nico as they made their way back along the wall, thankful that it was simply a matter of following it closely until they reached the Main Gates. It meant that Nico didn’t have to think about what way to lead them, he could simply walk along with his eyes fixed to the ground. He couldn’t help but wonder if Nico was actually seeing the path they were following, or if he was still seeing the spot in the Cave that they had expected Will to appear in. 

Part of him wanted to make Nico stop, to steer him away from the exit and accompany him up to Hades’ Palace where his father had likely been waiting anxiously for news since they set out from Camp in pursuit of Nathan and Octavian. Despite all of Hades’ bluster and false indifference, Percy knew that the Underworld god wasn’t going to take this well. Though they may have had a rocky start, Percy knew that Hades’ affection for his only living son ran deep. He wondered how Hades would react; knowing full well that he wouldn’t want to be in the god’s vicinity when the news was broken, let alone in his realm.

Another part of him just wanted to get Nico home to Camp Half-Blood, to never let him out of his sight again. He remembered the promise Apollo had asked him to make, for him to take Nico with him when he left if they didn’t succeed. They hadn’t succeeded and Percy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t be leaving Nico behind. If he even left.

“We can use the side gate,” Nico spoke for the first time since they had started walking, gesturing to the smaller gate that flanked the much larger one that souls were moving through. It was obviously one that the living inhabitants used when they had too, a silver chain looped through to keep it closed to the spirits. “I’ve got a key with me.”

Percy watched as Nico reached beneath his shirt, thinking he was going to pull out his Camp necklace. His heart clenched slightly when Nico withdrew two. One of them had beads on from before Nico’s time at Camp; the Trident from his first summer and the Golden Fleece both standing out to him. Nico’s necklace began with the bead that marked the Battle of the Labyrinth, reluctantly accepted.

Percy took the opportunity to eye the beads from his years of absence, not knowing how to feel when he realised the one from the summer he departed was a reverse of his first – a black trident on a turquoise bead. The one from the summer Will died was similar, a black sun on a golden bead.

Nico untied Will’s necklace with shaky hands, clutching at the silver key like it was a lifeline. It wasn’t the only addition on there, another silver item gleaming. It was positioned between the white bead that was marked with a laurel wreath and inscribed with the names of every demigod lost to both the Greeks and the Romans, given out at the end of  _ that  _ summer, and the bead that marked Percy’s departure. He had to squint slightly to figure it out, not wanting to ask what it was out of fear it would upset Nico. He was fairly certain it was an entwined sun and moon, its positioning suggesting it was to mark the start of Will and Nico’s relationship. He was also fairly certain that Will would have had final say on the design; vetoing Nico’s argument for a sun and skull charm.

He winced and tore his eyes away, staring over at the ever-moving procession of souls as Nico undid the lock before tying the necklace back around his neck.

They followed him through the gate silently, watching on as he swiftly redid the padlock.

“Just stay close to me as we go-” Nico stopped suddenly, his eyes fixed on the River Styx.

“Nico?” Percy asked, unsure what was wrong.

“The Tiber washed away the Curse of Achilles, right?” Nico asked him, looking between Percy and the River with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

“…Yes?” Percy answered.

“Would you?” Nico asked, gesturing towards the river.

Percy’s eyes went wide and he bit his lip. His mind went to Achilles and Luke, both of whom had carried the curse back from the grave. They often complained about its upsides and its downsides, with Achilles grumbling about how it was hardly invincibility when  _ everyone  _ knew his weak spot. It worked to his advantage for the first few moments of a fight, before his opponent realised that he still carried the curse and was then intent on stabbing him through the ankle by any means necessary.

It was why Percy had panicked so much when Luke was downed by Kronos because he knew logically that a hit to his vulnerable spot was the only thing that should have taken him down. And there was a possibility that Kronos knew exactly where Luke’s weak spot was from when he had possessed him, which was something that struck fear into Percy’s heart. They’d kept the fact he still held the curse quiet though, nobody outside of the team aware of it. He hadn’t even mentioned it to Apollo when the god was examining Luke in the aftermath.

It had its perks on missions though, especially in sticky situations. If Luke hadn’t still possessed the curse, the pair of them would have died on the mission that led to Luke’s promotion.

“I don’t know,” Percy admitted. He glanced between Nico and the river and sighed. “It would be an advantage-”

“I can’t,  _ we  _ can’t lose you,” Nico corrected himself. “You’re the only one who can kill Kronos this time around and we can’t run the risk of losing you. If you took a dip in the river, it would be one less thing for us to worry about.”

Percy knew from his minor slip that Nico was thinking with an ulterior motive and he didn’t have the heart to call him out on it. He winced, realising that Nico was suggesting this as a way to ensure that there was a higher chance he wouldn’t lose Percy on the battlefield, that he wouldn’t have to mourn another person he loved.

Percy didn’t want to put him through that.

“You think it would be a good idea?” Percy asked, biting his lip.

“It would certainly work to our advantage,” Icarus agreed, nodding along. “You’d just have to be careful between now and whenever we eventually face off against Gaia and her armies to keep it a secret.”

“I don’t know,” Percy admitted, deciding to voice his concerns. He awkwardly rubbed at his arm and grimaced. “Last time I knew who my anchor was.”

Nico and Icarus looked at each other, both knowing who he was thinking about.

He stood there and thought for a moment, knowing full well that he didn’t know  _ what  _ to think. There would be both pros and cons to him taking a dip in the river. There was just one big issue; the fact that Annabeth would no longer be his anchor. Part of him couldn’t help but worry about it, despite knowing that he had new people he could use as anchors to the mortal world, new reasons to hold on. If he were to dive in and lose his focus, if his mind went to Annabeth by accident… He’d lose his grip on reality and allow the river to wash him away.

He stepped closer, wanting to peer into the river in the hopes it would jog his memory about his previous experience and help him make up his mind.

“Oh for the sake of the gods, I thought this would stop happening when I was returned to life,” Achilles’ familiar grumble made him jump, spinning on his heel to find a rather bored ghostly visage of his friend. Achilles sighed, not even bothering to look at him properly before beginning to talk in monotone. “Beware, random demigod- Oh! Percy!”

“Achilles?” Percy raised an eyebrow, surprised to see him. 

“Tell me you aren’t about to launch yourself into the Styx?” Achilles sighed. “What did I tell you last time?”

Percy couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that escaped him, shaking his head as he remembered his first encounter with ‘Achilles’ by the River Styx. The man had been tall and brutish, head shaved and face scarred; with Percy mistaking him for Ares at his first glance. He’d been surprised to see the revived Achilles was smaller, unscarred, and had a head of bouncing bright curls atop an unnervingly pretty face. Eventually, when he’d plucked up to actually ask Achilles about it, Patroclus had started to howl of laughter and Achilles was stuck trying to explain to Percy that they’d persuaded one of the other soldiers in their regiment who had died in a freakishly similar manner to take over Achilles’ duties when he’d grown sick of giving the same speech to every living soul who looked at the river funny.

“ _ You  _ didn’t tell me anything,” Percy reminded him.

“Semantics.” Achilles waved a hand. “Are you seriously considering taking a dip though? I’ll have to give you ‘The Speech’ if so.”

“While I know it would have its upsides…” Percy began before shaking his head. He met Nico’s eyes and gave him an apologetic smile. “I don’t think it would be a good idea. Not while I’m at odds with Annabeth, not while I’m still at odds with Camp Half-Blood itself. I don’t think I’m in the right state to take a dip in a river that requires me to have solid relations for me to survive. While I have Nico, Luke, and countless other names that come to mind, I know I wouldn’t be able to keep my mind off the last time I bathed in the River Styx and I don’t have a strong enough relationship with Annabeth to survive that. Zeus, I technically don’t even have a relationship with Annabeth right now. I think ‘passing acquaintances’ is the only title we can give what we have right now.”

“You make valid points,” Nico sighed, accepting. His shoulders slumped and he looked exhausted. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.” Percy responded with enough conviction in his voice that Nico looked like he actually believed him.

“How come you’re even down here anyway?” Achilles asked, looking around in confusion. “And where is everyone else?”

Percy took one look at the now stricken expression on Nico’s face and decided to improvise. “We needed a chat with Hades, Apollo took everyone else back to the Argo II.V. We’re meeting them topside. We’ll be back soon.”

“We’ve got so much to tell-” Achilles started before abruptly disappearing.

Percy waited a moment to see whether or not he was going to reappear before turning to the other two. “Let’s get out of here.”

As they approached the door of DOA Recording Studios, Percy’s nerves increased. He knew that Apollo would only be a short distance away, waiting for a reunion with his son that was never going to happen. He also knew that he wasn’t prepared to see the look of devastation on the god’s face.

“Can you…?” Nico gestured feebly to the door, ignoring the spirits that were watching them with interest. “I don’t want to be the first one Apollo sees if he’s waiting. I ca- I can’t.”

Percy nodded, fully prepared to be the first one to exit. Icarus caught him by the wrist and gave him a gentle smile, slipping out of the door before him. Nico went next, Percy following him out into the L.A sunshine.

Apollo was stood waiting for them on the sidewalk; perfectly at home in his shorts and half-buttoned flowered shirt, allowing him to show off his perfect tan. He looked like he had just wandered up from the beach, gold-rimmed sunglasses pushed up into his matching hair so they could see exactly where his eyes were focused. His gaze was fixed over Percy’s shoulder, his smile flickering out of existence as nobody else followed and the door closed.

“No.” Apollo’s voice cracked, devastation taking hold immediately. He looked at Nico for answers, forcing the Son of Hades to stop hiding behind Icarus’ shoulders and give the sun god the sorriest excuse of a smile Percy had ever been forced to witness. His heart clenched as Apollo shook his head, backing away as his eyes began to fill with tears. “ _ No _ .”

“They didn’t give him back.” Nico’s tears had returned, flooding down his face like an avalanche. “They made me tell them all the reasons why I wanted him back and they made me think that they were going to. Then they took Octavian and  _ left  _ and Will… They didn’t give hi-”

Apollo surged forward, closing the distance between them so he could wrap Nico in a warm hug, allowing the son of Hades to sob into his shoulder as his own tears glittered on his cheeks.

Percy averted his gaze, fixing his eyes on one of the gaps in the pavement. He wished that they could have arranged to meet in a more private location, instead of some random L.A sidewalk where anyone could walk past and witness their grief. It was the first of many occasions that Nico would have to admit that their exchange had failed and Percy didn’t think it was going to get any easier to witness.

“Percy?” Apollo called his name, forcing his attention back. The god still had one arm curled around Nico but he was offering out his other hand to Percy. “We should get back to the ship.”

Percy nodded in agreement, reaching out and taking hold of the offered hand. He joined hands with Icarus and let Apollo transport them away from the door of DOA Recording Studios.

When the spots of sun disappeared from his eyesight, he blinked a final time before looking around the deck of the  _ Argo II.V _ , giving the gathered group of demigods the barest hint of a smile. They were all wearing similar expressions of shock, having realised that there were only three people arriving back with Apollo instead of four.

Nico didn’t even turn to look at their friends, shoulders still shaking in Apollo’s hold. The god gave Percy an apologetic look before dropping his hand so he could gesture to Nico and then the stairs that led below deck. Percy simply nodded in understanding before Apollo ushered Nico away.

Nobody spoke until they were certain they were out of earshot.

“What  _ happened _ ?” Jason asked, glancing between Percy and the stairs. He looked as if he was considering rushing after his friend, torn between wanting answers and wanting to provide comfort.

“They took Octavian, strung us along the entire time.” Percy shook his head, raking a hand through his hair. “Right when we thought they were about to give Will back, they took Octavian and vanished.”

“Zeus…” Piper winced, shaking her head. 

“How is he?” Jason asked.

“Bad.” Percy blurted out. “He wanted to get out of there and didn’t want to talk about it but I know what he’s like. The Fates told him that he should have used an Oath on the Styx to ensure the terms of the deal.”

“They didn’t!” Icarus looked horrified.

“You didn’t hear?” Thalia frowned.

“No.” Icarus shook his head. “They would only admit Percy and Octavian in with Nico. They said that they let Chaos take the souls of our team without quarrel because they have little control to exercise on him, but if I was to be as bold as to walk into their midst, they’d take my soul back too.”

“Does that mean Chaos isn’t answerable to The Fates?” Annabeth asked, the beginnings of a plan beginning to flicker in her eyes. 

Percy felt bad, knowing he was going to have to extinguish her line of thinking. “While Chaos is not directly answerable to them, there are only so many times he would be willing to subvert the will of The Fates.” He explained. “He prefers to keep them on his good side and he warned me that he wouldn’t be willing to do so again for quite some time. I could ask him, but I already know the answer would be no. In all likelihood, Chaos may have known about what Nathan did to raise Octavian before we did but chose not to intervene.”

“There’s really nothing we can do?” Hazel asked, her face pale.

Percy grimaced. “There’s nothing I can think of right now.”

“What’s the plan now then?” Frank asked.

Percy looked around the deck, relief flowing through him when he noticed that Festus was curled around the mainmast. “Leo’s here?”

“Oh!” Piper gasped. “I can’t believe we forgot. He’s here, he brought Calypso with him.”

“He’s in his cabin with Calypso,” Thalia informed them. “He’s alive and on the mend but she said the damage was bad. Flying here on Festus aggravated the injury so he stayed up here long enough to give Luke a quick demonstration of the controls before he went to rest.”

“Thank the gods.” Percy acknowledged. He considered telling them about The Fates’ attempt to trick them before deciding it could wait. “And our other invalid?”

“He’s in your cabin,” Luke directed at Icarus. “So it’s up to you whether you join him and Apollo or move in with me.”

“I’d rather not take my chances with those two.” Icarus let out a small laugh.

“I suppose I can let you stay with me.” Luke faked irritation. “I’m ever so generous.”

“Did I hear Thalia correctly when she said Leo showed you how to work the ship’s controls?” Percy raised an eyebrow at his Lieutenant.

“You did.” Luke nodded. “Want me to set a course for Camp and then we can all get some rest?”

Percy nodded. He wanted to sleep.

Eros had never felt more frustrated in his life. And frustration was a feeling he was used to, though it was usually for a different reason. He wasn’t used to feeling so weak, so out of control of his own fate. Of the fates of those around him. 

“Hey there, Sunshine,” He drawled as a rather harried looking Apollo burst into the room. He could see from where he was lying on the bed that there was a line of tension through his body, his hair mostly pulled back into an extremely messy bun - most of it too short to stay in the confines of the band. He was wearing a hoodie that he hadn’t been wearing earlier, one that clashed horribly with his shirt while the unzipped sides knocked against his thighs. 

He did not look like a god who had just been reunited with his dead son.

Eros felt even more powerless than he had five minutes ago.

“Oh thank the gods, you’re still breathing,” Apollo breathed a sigh of relief, raking a hand through his hair and pulling even more of it out of the bun. Eros now knew why it was in such a disarray and couldn’t help but wonder how many times Apollo had performed such an action.

“What, worried that I wouldn’t be?” Eros asked before cursing his own mouth and his inability to keep it shut. Clearly it wasn’t the right time to be making jokes about death. “Oh gods, I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Apollo asked, guard instantly up.

“If you think that I’m that powerless that I can’t sense your grief, you’re the one who needs to be checked over by Asclepius, Buttercup.” Eros shook his head and sighed. “If you had been reunited with your son, you wouldn’t even be standing here now. Let alone stood here in a hoodie that clashes terribly with your outfit and hair _ that  _ messy.”

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” Apollo asked defensively, avoiding the subject like an expert as he jammed his hands into the pockets and wrapped the offending blue item around himself. He looked small, so small that Eros wanted to just get up and wrap the other god in a blanket.

“Oh Buttercup,” Eros sighed once again. “How’s Baby Hades?”

“I’ve left him with Percy, I realised that I hadn’t checked on you for hours.” Apollo winced. “I’m sorry, I should have at least stuck my head in. I didn’t even think about-”

“Apollo.” Eros cut him off, knowing that Apollo would continue to beat himself up otherwise. “Sit down and take a minute. Please.”

“I-”

“I don’t care.” Eros cut him off again, able to tell by the look on his face that Apollo was about to complain. “I know exactly what you’re like; if you’ve only just left Nico alone, you haven’t even stopped to process it yourself.”

Apollo took a few steps further into the cabin, reaching the bed opposite Eros. He sat down as if he was a puppet who’d had his strings cut, dropping like a ragdoll. His shoulders slumped and he finally pulled his hair completely out of the hair-tie, combing it with his fingers as he stared into space for a moment. Eros stayed silent, knowing damn well that the other god needed a moment to get lost in his own head, to come to terms with his grief.

“They told him that he should have held them to an Oath, how fucked up is that?” Apollo finally spilled, looking at Eros with hopelessness in his eyes. “Nico has spent four years refusing to make any sort of Oath on the River Styx because we thought that it was an Oath being broken that caused Will’s death and the old hags decided to taunt him for that.”

“As angry as you understandably are, maybe hold off on the name calling?” Eros suggested, wincing. He knew exactly how vindictive the Fates could be and he didn’t think that Apollo needed any  _ more  _ trauma.

“They can take it as a compliment,” Apollo huffed. “I just… I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s nothing you  _ can _ do,” Eros soothed, despite knowing that the words would do precisely nothing. “As horrible as it is, there’s nothing you can do to subvert the wishes of the Fates.”

“I’ve just got this horrible, ugly feeling in my chest where I can’t help but think I wouldn’t be in this situation if I cared about my kids as much as some of the other gods,” Apollo admitted, seemingly shrinking in on himself as his face twisted into an expression of disgust - disgust over his own words. “I wouldn’t be here, broken-hearted about not getting my son back.”

“The fact you care so much is something I admire about you,” Eros decided to swallow some of his own pride and confess to a few truths he knew would make Apollo feel better. “You care about your kids, your friends, your family - even if some of them don’t particularly care about you. If you didn’t care, you would have refused to help these demigods. You would have refused to help me.”

“I really did try to keep my distance.” Apollo shook his head. “I tried to stay away from the kids I had in Camp Half-Blood because I didn’t want to get attached because it just  _ hurts _ when they’re gone. I couldn’t even do that right though, especially after seeing what happened with Luke. It made me realise that I was only saving myself from hurt by staying away; I was hurting my kids by not visiting, by not being part of their lives. I didn’t want there to be a day where one of my kids went to the dark side because I didn’t bother to make them feel wanted, not when I know exactly how it feels to want a parent’s attention and not get it.”

“You got attached,” Eros sighed.

“Will was so easy to get attached to,” Apollo admitted. “All of them were, but the fact I failed Will so much? It hurts.”

There was a moment of silence while Apollo stared steadily at the floor, a wistful expression on his face. Eros recognised the look with ease, having seen it many times that day while they waited for Nico and company to make it out of the Underworld. It was usually accompanied by a stray hand reaching to touch the hyacinth charm that Apollo was never found without; the necklace’s absence was even more conspicuous when Eros knew full well that the person borrowing it was back in close proximity. He had assumed that Apollo would have recovered it as soon as possible, especially after the amount of times he’d gone to touch it that day and his fingers had graced an empty throat.

Eros’ own throat tightened slightly at the thought of Hyacinthus; knowing with a heavy sense of guilt that the flower preserved in the charm was one from the very plant Apollo’s lover had turned into after death, divine intervention meaning the necklace still looked the same as it did the day it was created. Hyacinthus’ death and the aftermath in which he had a part in was not one of his proudest moments when it came to his history with Apollo. In fact, it was a source of great shame for him - especially when he considered the fact that Zephyros, the one who had changed the direction of the wind that fateful day, was still under his command in exchange for his protection.

“I wanted Will back for so many reasons, but I can’t help but feel selfish,” Apollo speaking further startled him, and he realised that he had been staring at the floor too. “I owe him so much and I can’t help but wonder if it’s selfish of me to want him back because it would ease my conscience.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eros frowned, suddenly feeling slightly lost.

“It’s my fault Will died,” Apollo confessed, voice so soft that he thought he had misheard.

“What?” He asked, not totally certain that he  _ hadn’t  _ misheard.

“Will’s death.” Apollo winced. “It was my fault.”

“What?” Eros repeated. Scratch slightly lost. He felt  _ extremely  _ lost.

“I was the one who was monitoring him, I was the one who should’ve noticed that I’d missed something,” Apollo explained. “I shouldn’t have left him alone, not even for ten minutes, but I did. I left him alone and he was dying when I got back and he had passed the point of me being able to do anything about it. If I hadn’t been stupid enough to leave him alone, who knows what would have happened? He’d probably be on this damn Quest with us.”

“Apollo, you can’t genuinely think that-” 

“I’d best check on Leo,” Apollo was the one who cut him off this time, standing abruptly. “I’ll be back soon and I’ll get Percy to help me change your bandages. Your healing is taking longer to kick in than I thought it would.”

“Apollo!” Eros protested, but he was left complaining to an empty room. The sun god had vacated the cabin like he had Cerberus nipping at his heels, leaving Eros just as frustrated as he was before Apollo had arrived back. “Damn it Buttercup.”

He just sighed, resigning himself to the idea of lying in wait and ambushing Apollo the next time he entered the room. He wanted some answers and he also wanted to tell Apollo that he was obviously being an idiot if he was honestly blaming himself for Will’s death.

First, however, Eros needed a nap. Talking about feelings was  _ hard. _


	53. Campfire Celebrations are Apparently a Centaur Cure-All.

Percy was relieved to see Camp Half-Blood below them as they broke through the clouds, finally descending toward their final destination. It felt like arriving home, though his heart was heavy at the prospect of admitting they’d failed a major proportion of their Quest at the hands of The Fates.

They’d navigated the Maze, found a kidnapped god, and had managed to capture Nathan, Octavian, and Tanner with only a few minor hiccups. But they’d failed the part of their Quest that mattered the most to Percy. He’d wanted nothing more for their trade with The Fates to succeed, to see Will brought back to life and to see Nico happy again. He knew that a return to Camp Half-Blood would mean having to stand by and watch as the faces of the Cabin Counsellors turned from triumph at their return to despair as they realised the conspicuous absence in their ranks. He could only hope that they’d kept the true nature of Octavian’s resurrection under wraps; that Nico wouldn’t have to face a deluge of questions from the entire Camp, especially when Nico was yet to even face the rest of the demigods on board.

“Are you planning on putting that on?” Luke asked, making him jump. He turned to see his Lieutenant standing at the railing beside him, gesturing to the mask that Percy was holding loosely in his hands. Luke’s own was on his face, hiding in the depths of his hood. “You look like you’re about to hurl it into the clouds and let one of Zeus’ bolts eat it for breakfast.”

“Yeah, I’m putting it on.” Percy nodded, sighing before reluctantly doing so. He followed the action by pulling up his hood, shrouding his identity once more. There would be a time in the next few days that he revealed his identity, but now was not that time. “I don’t want to cause a riot.”

“How is he?” Luke asked. He didn’t need to say who he was referring to, they both knew exactly who he was talking about.

Percy sighed again. This was the first time he’d left his cabin, left Nico, since the night before. He’d been up half the night, a dismal Apollo popping in and out as he migrated between three different cabins with three different injuries. Leo’s Minotaur inflicted gash, Eros’ tortured body, and Nico’s broken heart. Eventually, Nico had acquiesced to the potion that Apollo had offered, drifting off into a dreamless sleep. It had only been then that Percy had slept himself, waking not long after the dawn light started to creep through the porthole and the sun god had slipped in to check on them both. He’d uttered a quiet apology to Percy for waking him, subdued and totally unlike his usual self. Percy hadn’t had the heart to start the conversation about Will’s death that he’d been delaying, instead choosing to simply assure him that it wasn’t Apollo that had woken him up.

“Percy?” Luke prompted again, voice soft.

“Sorry. I didn’t sleep well.” Percy shook his head. “I was up half the night with Nico and Apollo was popping in and out every twenty minutes for ten-minute intervals. He needed someone to talk to. Apparently Eros wouldn’t stop asking some hard hitting questions when he wasn’t too busy sleeping or complaining and it was hard to hold a conversation with Leo when Calypso was sitting and watching his every move.”

“I can’t believe what happened,” Luke admitted. “It just seems so cruel.”

“I can’t stop replaying it in my head.” Percy glanced down at Camp as he spoke. They were descending slowly, giving those below time to identify them as friendlies. “I just can’t get over the fact they told him his father would be proud of him for returning a soul to the realm and then saying that Hades would say it was a shame that he didn’t use an Oath on the Styx. It was just unnecessary.”

“That’s what they said?” Luke couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice. “Hades will go ballistic when he finds out.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere near him when he finds out,” Percy admitted. “Surprisingly, I’ve got a preference for staying alive.”

“Oh, that song is an absolute classic!” Apollo’s false cheer informed them that they were no longer alone on the deck and Percy was vividly reminded of the elevator ride up to Olympus where Stayin’ Alive had been playing and the terrifying image of Apollo in bell-bottoms and a silky shirt had flashed through his mind. Thankfully, when he twisted to see Apollo leading the way from below deck with Eros and Nico in tow, the sun god was sans either terrible item of clothing. Instead he was clad in an all black, fashionable outfit that was complete with ripped jeans and an expensive leather jacket. The former was gazing at the sky with a small hint of astonishment in his eyes, the latter staring at the deck as if he wanted to fall through it. The three of them were all wearing cloaks, Nico holding his around himself like a safety blanket. Percy knew he was only wearing it in order to hide from the others, using it as a shield to hide his pale face and the bags under his eyes.

“How do you wear these?” Eros complained, flicking his hood down and pouting. He was moving gingerly, as if each step pained him. Percy knew that the only reason he was out of bed was because Apollo was sick of hearing him complain. “They’re so very unflattering, they cover up _everyone’s_ greatest assets.”

“You said you wanted one,” Apollo sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. “You made me stand there and change the inner lining through that many different shades of pink, I could no longer differentiate between them.”

“There’s a difference between rose pink and baby pink,” Eros huffed. “Are we nearly there yet?”

“I told you literally seconds ago that we are descending on Camp now,” Apollo sighed again, sounding long-suffering.

“That was a few seconds ago,” Eros dismissed him. “I’m asking if we’re nearly there yet _now_.”

“Why are you like this?” Apollo groaned. “I’d start calling you Donkey but I think you’d glue my eyelashes together, or something else equally evil.”

“I was locked up and tortured for four years.” Eros deadpanned before giving him a radiant smile as Apollo shook his head and looked to the skies for assistance. “ _That_ is why I am ‘like this’, my darling sunbeam.”

“Is this where the party is?” Leo called out in greeting, drawing their attention to the steps leading from below deck once again. He was leaning heavily on Calypso, face pale and slightly sweating due to the exertion of walking up there, but he had a bright smile on his face.

Percy was relieved to see him up and walking, having only looked in on him when he was sleeping so the last image he had of Leo was not one of him when he had a gaping hole in his side and Percy’s hands were wet with his blood. He couldn’t help but clench his hands into fists at the thought, a small shiver running down his spine.

“Hey!” He greeted brightly, hoping he wouldn’t betray his own emotions. “You’re looking better!”

“Well, I felt like I’d been touched by a god for a bit.” Leo grinned. It was a grin that Percy was extremely familiar with, one that usually made an appearance when Leo was about to say something only he found funny. “Y’know, _holey._ ”

“Tell me he’s on some terrible pain medication and he didn’t just say that intentionally,” Luke spoke the thoughts of everyone, looking horrified at how terrible the joke was.

“I wish I could.” Apollo shook his head. “I really, really wish I could, but all I can say is that he is clearly his father’s son.”

“You are lucky that he was sleeping when you checked in on him,” Calypso directed at him, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. He’d offered an awkward apology to her last night for not checking whether or not the Olympians had carried out their promise to free her from her island but she had laughed and dismissed it, telling him that she would not have met Leo otherwise. “He’s been terrible.”

“You told me they were funny!” Leo protested.

Calypso reached with that hand that was not wrapped around his waist supporting him, patting him on the head and laughing. “I’ve had very little company for several millennia. Of course I find you funny.”

“Oh, so this is where you all are?” Jason led the rest of their companions from below deck, unwittingly preventing Leo from complaining about Calypso’s teasing words. 

Icarus slipped around them, making a beeline towards them. He looked slightly pale, unease in his expression. Percy recognised the look from their journey to New York when Icarus had confessed to hating flying when questioned. He was fine below deck when he could perhaps pretend they were at sea – the usual place to find a boat – but when he was on deck and perfectly aware of the clouds passing, he looked ready to be sick.

“Tell me we’re getting off this infernal contraption soon?” Icarus asked, hovering close by but not looking over the side himself.

“Oi!” Leo protested. “That’s my baby you’re talking about.”

“I was asking the same question!” Eros informed Icarus, sounding delighted as they completely ignored Leo. “Great minds think alike.”

“You were being a pain in the ass,” Apollo corrected. 

“Are you also calling dear Icarus a pain in the ass?” Eros asked innocently.

“No.” Apollo rolled his eyes. “Icarus is a delight and a pleasure to look at. You on the other hand…”

“Darling, I can look like your wildest fantasy,” Eros purred before scrunching his nose up and huffing. “…When my powers decide to make a reappearance.”

“I’ve never been more thankful that someone decided to kidnap and torture you,” Apollo informed him fondly. “And I thought that the aftermath of the last time I was involved in your rescue couldn’t be topped.”

“Why must you take enjoyment in my suffering?” Eros pouted. “I swear you enjoy seeing me suffer just as much as Aphrodite used to enjoy sending handsome men to rescue me when she had me kidnapped.”

“Oh no Lovebug, I enjoy it _more_ ,” Apollo cackled.

Percy turned his attention away from them, knowing that they’d just be starting to bicker in the same manner that they had since they’d found Eros and the love god had gained enough energy to snark back. He was just happy that Apollo seemed distracted for a few minutes. He cast another look over the side of the _Argo II.V_ , relieved to see that their descent would soon be over.

He was ready to walk on solid ground again.

They landed in the middle of the Cabins, gangplank going down the second they reached the ground. Apollo, Eros, Icarus, and Nico had all donned masks, Percy making the executive decision not to question Nico’s choice because he knew that he was using it as a way to hide his face from the Head Councillors who would be looking to him for answers about Will. Around the base of the gangplank a swarm of Campers had gathered, intermingled with members of Artemis’ Hunt and Percy’s team.

He was already looking around, trying to count them all before he’d even stepped foot off the ship, missing a step when he started to count more than they had left behind.

“Blue!” 

Scorpio’s shout was the most warning he had before his brother collided with him, using his height advantage to lift Percy off his feet and spin him in the exact same way he had done when Percy had popped in for an unexpected visit.

“What are you doing here?” Percy asked once he was set on his feet again, laughing. “I wasn’t expecting to see you yet!”

“We arrived yesterday morning,” Labyrinthus spoke, appearing at Scorpio’s shoulder. “Imagine our disappointment when we realised that we wouldn’t have more than twenty-four hours to relax when someone was shouting about your flying ship being sighted.”

Percy glanced over his shoulder to where Leo was raising the _Argo II.V_ off the ground by a few feet once they had all disembarked. It had been his suggestion, to keep the ship airborne and therefore create a distance between Nathan and the earth below. He hadn’t had a chance to speak to Gaia’s son yet, but he didn’t want to run the risk of underestimating him and having him disappear through a hole in the ground once more.

Annabeth had been a surprising champion for his suggestion, nodding along and mentioning their encounter with Enceladus. It had only been by separating him from the ground that Percy had been able to kill him and he didn’t want to rely on just a few panels of wood to separate Nathan from a potential power source and escape route.

“He’s lying, he was already beginning to grow antsy about you being off down in the Labyrinth without him,” Scorpio teased, knocking his fist into their brother’s shoulder in a playful punch. “Bells and I had to stop him from rushing after you.”

“You know how I feel about the Labyrinth,” Labyrinthus scowled at the ground beneath their feet, obviously imagining that there was a tunnel a few feet below.

“We bumped into an old friend of yours actually-” Percy began to mention the Minotaur before spying Chiron and Dionysus emerging from the crowd. “Apologies, we’ll continue this later.”

They just nodded, gesturing for him to take his place back by Apollo’s side.

“Caeruleum!” Chiron greeted him with a nod. “You’re back sooner than expected.”

“A good thing, I hope?” Percy asked.

“Wonderful.” Dionysus stated dryly. “Unfurl the banners and light the bonfire, let’s have a party.”

“Dee-Dee, I didn’t think you would be this happy to see me!” Eros responded, drawing all eyes to him. He was stood on Apollo’s other side, trying to be discreet about the fact he was having to lean on the other god for support. “A party for little ol’ me?”

Dionysus’ eyes went wide, shock flickering across his face. “Eros?”

Eros tossed aside the borrowed mask, shaking out his curls as he pushed down the hood of his cloak and cast his gaze over Camp Half-Blood. “In the flesh.”

Percy sighed, wanting to slap his hand against his face then and there. The whole point of Eros wearing a mask was to disguise the fact that they had found him; a fact that they’d only wanted to disclose to the select few. Rachel issuing the Prophecy concerning him in front of the entire Camp could not be helped, but they had wanted to present the illusion that they hadn’t found the mentioned god, that they’d found Nathan and decided to regroup back at Camp.

That plan had been thrown out of the window by Eros’ inability to keep his mouth shut.

“Sorry to surprise you with his presence and leave you, but this idiot needs to go to the infirmary,” Apollo sighed and gestured to Eros with the hand that was not keeping him upright. “And so does Leo.”

“I’m fine!” Leo protested. “If my body was a movie, it would only have a warning for minor gore right now. You’ve totally healed me up!”

“You’re as bad as each other,” Apollo groaned.

“May I make a suggestion?” Chiron chimed in.

“Of course my dear centaur,” Eros beamed at him.

“Obviously, you set out what you went to achieve,” Chiron gestured to Eros before he made a pointed look to the ship that was a blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment that suggested he was well aware they were hiding Nathan on board. “And the sun is beginning to map its descent as dinner time approaches. Perhaps we could leave the nitty-gritty details for a day and celebrate your triumphant return tonight?”

Percy felt relieved that he wouldn’t have to sit and recount their exploits to Chiron that night. He knew it was obvious to both Chiron and Dionysus, as well as the Head Counsellors, that part of their Quest had been a failure due to Will’s glaring absence by Nico’s side. It was, perhaps, the very reason that Chiron was suggesting an alternative to having to sit and run through the events that had led to them returning to Camp empty handed. He was likely aware that it had happened fairly recently, that it was the type of thing that would have sent them straight back home. Once again, Percy thanked the gods that Chiron was so compassionate and understanding - a perfect balance to Dionysus.

“Yes,” He agreed, though he didn’t believe the words he was saying. “A celebration would be nice.”

Nico didn’t want to be there.

The laughter and happiness of the people surrounding them had been almost intolerable, he’d debated just standing and walking away several times during the night. Instead, he’d just sat there, sandwiched between Percy and Apollo, and stared blankly towards the campfire whenever he wasn’t being engaged in soft conversation. He knew everyone was tiptoeing around him, careful with their words and their phrasing so they didn’t upset him. Little did they know that he’d spent every waking moment that day on the verge of tears anyway.

Percy turned to look at him, a smile on his face that died the moment he realised a tear was rolling down Nico’s face.

“Hey,” He said softly, gently reaching up and wiping it away. “Want me to walk you back to your Cabin? Our Cabin? Whichever Cabin you want to sleep in?”

Nico considered the offered for a moment, looking over at the gradually dying fire. There were fewer people in the Amphitheatre now; those of them who had gone on the Quest, a few other Head Counsellors dotted around, and a large majority of Percy’s newly reunited team. It was quieter now too, everyone involved in their own conversations instead of rousing campfire songs that made his heart clench when he remembered Will sitting beside him and belting them out with absolutely no hesitation, despite butchering the lyrics and singing in the wrong key. It had just been made funnier by the fact that Nico knew Will could actually sing. Most of the time.

Realising Percy was still waiting for an answer, he shook his head. “I don’t want to pull you away from your team,” He admitted. “And I’m alright here.”

“Are you sure?” Percy bit his lip.

“Percy, please,” Nico sighed. “I’m alright, I swear. I just miss him.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Percy offered. He’d fully shifted his body away from Luke and the others that he’d been engaged in conversation with, gesturing for them to continue. “I’m more than happy to sit here and listen to you.”

“I used to hate coming to the Campfire after dinner,” Nico started to speak in answer. “I used to say I’d skip it and see him afterwards but he’d always insist I came along with him, just for an hour and then we’d go together. We’d never go after an hour. I’d get completely lost in the way he looked in the firelight and I’d sit there and stare at him while he purposefully sang out of tune and laughed his way through the songs.”

He stared over at the flames, purposefully not turning to see Apollo because he knew his would-be father-in-law would look uncomfortably like his son when bathed in the flames due to his teenage appearance. They were still flickering and dancing, though they were burning lower and lower. Nobody was making a move to throw any more wood on, content to let it burn down to embers and go to bed when the embers extinguished.

“One of the photos on my wall, the one dated the summer after you left was one of the last pictures we took together,” Nico continued. “The Hunters were visiting and Leo had just returned for a weekend so my attendance was totally willing. Thalia was the one who insisted we take a few photographs and I’ve never been more thankful. I’ve got a whole album filled with ridiculous selfies that we took that night and they’re some of the last pictures we took together before we argued and I left Camp.”

He sighed and looked up, the sight of the full moon catching his eye. He couldn’t help his flinch, it was the first time that he had noticed what phase of the moon they were in since emerging from the Labyrinth.

“What’s wrong?” Percy asked, instantly on guard.

Nico gestured upwards. “It’s a full moon, I’ve only just realised. It was only just past a half-moon when we went into the Labyrinth, I didn’t even think about it. They remind me of Will. He used to love seeing a full moon, even though it’s the polar opposite of Apollo’s domain. We used to sit here, by the campfire, until I had to Shadow Travel us back to my Cabin because the Cleaning Harpies were advancing. It was a full moon the night he died and I’d promised to be back in time before we argued. I stayed away because I was being stubborn and when I came back… Well,” he laughed hollowly, “we all know what I came back to.”

“You alright, Moonshine?” Apollo’s gentle voice came from his back but he didn’t turn to look at him. He just nodded and looked at the moon for one long moment before turning his attention back to the dying flames.

“Does it ever stop hurting?” He asked both of them, staring resolutely ahead as he reached up and curled his hand around the entwined sun and moon charm on Will’s necklace. His boyfriend had told him that he’d get Nico a matching one for their next anniversary. He’d never got the chance.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Apollo go to mirror his action before the god let out a small noise of surprise. His neck was still bare, hyacinth necklace hanging around Percy’s neck.

“I keep meaning to give you this back,” Percy gasped, swiftly reaching up and unhooking the fine golden chain. He held it out, offering it back to the god, and Nico watched as the gold glimmered in the light of the fire before Apollo reached out for it.

“Thank you for looking after it,” Apollo intoned, taking back the necklace with a sigh of relief. Silence reigned as he placed it around his neck, before his expression turned serious and he placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder. “Sorry Moonshine, we got distracted for a moment.”

“I don’t think I want to hear an answer,” Nico confessed, tearing his eyes away from the dancing flames. “I just wish I could have him back.”

Apollo’s hand slipped from his shoulder, taking his hand instead. “I wanted to see my son again. I have so much to say to him.”

There was an intonation of grief and guilt in Apollo’s voice that Nico could have sworn he had never heard before.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked, curious.

Apollo stiffened, the hand on his going tense.

“You blame yourself, don’t you?” Percy asked softly.

To Nico’s horror, Apollo ducked his head and nodded. “Yes. I blame myself.”

“Apollo, why?” Nico couldn’t keep his own horror from his voice. “You did everything you could to save him.”

“And I missed something!” Apollo shot back, looking up at him and Percy. His eyes were sparkling with grief, unshed tears collecting. “I missed something that night and I’ve never been able to forgive myself.”

Percy could feel a ball of guilt writhing in his chest. He was fully aware that Will didn’t blame his father for his demise but he couldn’t explain that here without Nico hearing details he never wanted to know.

“Apollo,” He spoke up. “Will didn’t blame you. He didn’t blame you for a second. He knew you did everything you could. _You didn’t miss anything._ ” Part of him hoped he picked up on the double meaning of Percy’s words, another part of him hoped that he took the words at face value.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Apollo stood, his voice tight. “I’m going to go and check on Eros.”

Nico and Percy watched as Apollo practically fled, the son of Hades catching Percy’s wrist when he went to stand and follow.

“Let him have a moment.” Nico shook his head. “Just… He’ll come back.”

Percy bit his lip, unsure. He wanted to go after Apollo and reassure him but he also knew that Nico knew him far better than he did. If Nico said he needed privacy, he needed privacy.

Nico shuffled a little closer to him and rested his head on Percy’s shoulder. “Talk to Luke or something for a bit. I need a moment too.”

Percy had been talking with Luke and the others for about half an hour before he turned, intending to ask Nico if he had fallen asleep on his shoulder when his attention was caught by the campfire.

There were only a few rare flames dancing here and there, with burning embers making up the majority of what was left. It seemed perfectly normal.

Except for the fact it wasn’t.

The few flames were pure gold, the type of flame that didn’t occur when the fire was in the state it was. No, these flames belonged to when the fire was first lit, burning through the fuel with ferocity. The embers were not their typical cherry red either, golden light burning within them once again. The fire had seemed to take on a wholly supernatural existence in the half-hour that Percy had paid it no mind, expecting it to be burnt to ash and barely burning embers the next time he bothered to look.

He opened his mouth to call out to Leo, to ask whether he had been meddling with the fire before the words caught in his throat and his eyes widened.

A dark shape was beginning to form on the bed of embers, a solid shape that was getting larger and more tangible by the second.

“Nico?” Percy couldn’t stop his voice from trembling slightly, the sight before them freaking him out.

“What’s up?” Luke turned, hearing the uncertainty of Percy’s tone.

Percy nodded in the direction of the fire, pinpointing the exact second that Luke realised that there was something wrong.

“What the fuck?” Luke swore loudly, drawing the attention of those around them.

Percy turned his attention back to the fire, flinching when he realised the shape had gotten much larger in his moment of inattention, large enough to pass as human and swathed in gold light that looked like a shroud. _A shroud._

Percy was on his feet in seconds, yanking Nico with him, forcing him back into the land of the living with a shock.

“Percy!” Nico groaned. “What was that for?”

Percy didn’t answer, his mind racing.

_Under full moon light._

He glanced upwards to where the full moon was shining brightly, just like it had been when they had been discussing it earlier. Rays of moonlight were illuminating the Amphitheatre instead of the Campfire, some of the torches dotted around acting as a secondary source of light.

 _Exchange the souls in the dead of night_.

The moon was at its peak, he didn’t need to look up again to confirm. It was late, far later than any of them had truly intended to stay up. He grabbed Nico’s hand and started to drag him towards the steps that would lead them down to the fire itself.

_Blood for blood,_

Percy was well aware that The Fates would have spilt Octavian’s blood by now, truly returning him to the depths of the Underworld.

_Blood matched through parenthood._

He just wished that Apollo was there in the Amphitheatre with them, that he hadn’t disappeared into the moonlight. It would make this so much easier, make explanations so much less stressful.

_A life given to return a love taken,_

Octavian’s life was what they had been prepared to forfeit to bring Will back, what they had forfeited to bring Will back.

_Burn the body, reborn from ash,_

They had reached the floor of the Amphitheatre, Luke and a few of the others hot on their heels as everyone’s conversations were frozen. Silence reigned in the arena, the air around them feeling as still as the dead.

“Percy?” Nico’s voice was shaking as he finally realised that there was something going on, his eyes fixed on the shape in the flames. “ _Percy_?”

He sounded terrified and it broke his heart.

Before he could respond, the remaining flames extinguished. They were plunged into an unexpected darkness, a large cloud covering the moon. A golden light formed above them, illuminating the small ring in the centre of the Amphitheatre. Luke caught Percy’s eye and he dropped Nico’s hand, moving with Luke, Icarus, and Orion towards the shrouded body. They were all slightly stunned by the fact there was no heat left by the fire, but it worked to their advantage. It allowed them to step onto the cold embers, charcoal crunching beneath their feet as they advanced. They wordlessly lifted the body together, moving it from the extinguished campfire to the first tier of the benches.

Nico had been hovering close to Percy’s shoulder the entire time, slipping past the moment they stepped away.

“Am I dreaming?” Nico asked, breaking the eerie silence that had fallen. He looked at Percy with wide eyes, his hand reaching towards the edge of the shroud shaking.

“You’re not dreaming,” Percy promised, his own voice trembling.

He watched with bated breath. 

Nico peeled back the shroud, flinching back when he was confronted with the lifeless face of his boyfriend. His face was drained of colour, golden hair limp and dull.

Nico’s heart began to beat faster in his chest, wondering if this was just another sick joke from The Fates or if he truly was dreaming. Then, suddenly, the moon broke through the clouds again and the golden light that had bathed them all shot towards Will’s body, slipping between barely parted lips.

His eyes filled with tears as he watched on, colour creeping up Will’s neck and slowly returning his skin to its familiar golden tan. A familiar pattern of small freckles re-emerged over Will’s nose and cheeks, freckles that Nico used to try and count as he compared them to constellations. The dullness receded from his hair, leaving it vibrant and bright.

Nico watched on as Will’s eyes shot open, revealing a brilliant blue, as the son of Apollo breathed the first breath he had taken in four long years.

_Your love shall reawaken._

  
  



	54. The Baby Prince of Darkness Gets his Sunshine Back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In addition to this, I've written a one-shot set pre-series that explains how Will and Nico got together in this 'verse. You can find it by checking my profile, or by clicking on the series link.

Nico felt frozen, a gasp escaping his lips at the sight of Will’s open eyes before they closed once more and he slipped back into unconsciousness. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, unable to believe the sight before him. For a moment he tore his eyes away, looking around at the other stunned faces. To where Kayla had her hands clasped over her mouth and tears forming in her eyes. To Lou Ellen, who was sitting beside her like a statue. And then to Percy who had a stunned smile on his face.

When he felt somewhat reassured that he wasn’t imagining the current scenario, he turned his attention back and reached out. He touched Will for the first time, having to bite his lip so a sob didn’t escape him when his hand made contact with the solid warmth of Will’s shoulder. Instead, he let out a shaky breath, the true reality of the situation beginning to dawn on him.

It was less than an hour ago that he had been convinced he would never see Will again, slowly beginning to resign himself to a lifetime of resenting The Fates once more. Now, he was whispering a silent prayer of thanks to the trio, despite the resentment that still flowed through his veins. It was a feeling that could not be easily washed away, not so soon after the hurt that they had caused, but he still owed them his thanks.

There was movement and rushed conversations behind him but he paid them no mind, his sole focus on Will. Different emotions were flooding through him in a cascade, all fighting to be at the forefront.

“Nico?” Percy’s hand on his shoulder made him flinch, forcing him to turn his attention from Will to the son of Poseidon at his back. “Do you want Apollo to come to you or do you want to take Will to Apollo? He needs to go to the infirmary.”

“I-” Nico cut himself off. He hadn’t given Apollo a second thought since he had woken up enough to process that Percy was dragging him down the Amphitheatre steps and a bolt of guilt went through his chest. “We should go to him, right?” He looked at Percy helplessly. “It makes more sense for us to go to him.”

“Yeah, it does.” Percy nodded. “You need a hand carrying him?”

He considered for a moment before shaking his head. “Can you do me another favour though?”

“Anything,” Percy declared.

Nico gave him an apologetic smile, knowing that he was about to hand Percy one Erebus of a short straw. “Run ahead and give Apollo a heads up?”

Percy had managed to draw a very short straw and he wasn’t aware that they’d been picking them. He stopped outside the infirmary for a moment to catch his breath before opening the door, having literally ran when Nico had asked.

He’d need as much time as possible to break the news to Apollo before the truth burst through the doors in the arms of Nico di Angelo.

Apart from Eros and Apollo, the room was thankfully empty. They halted their conversation to look over at him, both of them looking surprised that they had been interrupted.

“Percy?” Apollo rose from where he was sitting at the foot of Eros’ bed, concern colouring his tone. “Seashell, babe, is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Percy opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

“Perseus?” Eros prompted. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “Have you  _ actually _ seen a ghost?”

“I don’t know why he sent me to warn you,” Percy blurted out, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I think we all learnt after what happened in the Labyrinth that I should not be trusted to say something sensitively after suffering a surprise.”

“Has something happened?” Apollo took a step towards him. “Wait, did you just say that you were sent to  _ warn me _ about something?”

“We’ve got a couple of minutes before Nico walks through that door and I’m going to need you to not freak out,” Percy warned, holding up his hands to placate him.

“You telling me not to freak out will  _ make me _ freak out,” Apollo warned.

Percy resisted the urge to groan, knowing that he was making an absolute mess of this. “Apollo, please,” He begged. “I don’t know where to even begin right now. There’s no easy way to say this but The Fates have decided to honour their agreement.”

Apollo’s eyes went wide.

“The flames of the Campfire burnt low, Will was reborn from the ashes like a phoenix – just like Octavian was,” Percy continued, leaving no time for Apollo to interrupt. “He’s alive but unconscious, Nico sent me ahead to warn you. They’re bringing him here.”

“My son?” Apollo’s voice was trembling. “My son is alive?”

Apollo closed the gap between them, enveloping Percy in a warm hug. He could feel the god shaking as he returned the hug, holding him close as Apollo hooked his chin over Percy’s shoulder and refused to let go.

“I feel like I should get up and join you,” Eros commented from his bed. “Have a nice little group hug. But honestly, it’s nice to just sit back and watch two very attractive individuals embrace. Can you stick your tongues in each other’s mouths next, please? For science?”

“Need us to step back outside for a moment?” Luke cackled from behind Percy, evidently having entered in time to hear Eros’ request.

Apollo stepped back, still shaking, and watched as Nico carried Will through the door.

He was careful as he set Will down on one of the spare beds, despite the fact his arms had been straining slightly since the moment they had exited the Amphitheatre.

“Oh my gods,” Apollo whispered quietly, appearing on the other side of the bed as if he had teleported from the spot he’d been in by Percy. He reached down and reverently swept some of his son’s hair from his eyes, hand trembling. “What happened? Seashell only managed to stumble through the basics.”

“How are you  _ supposed _ to tell someone that their son has come back from the dead when we thought it was impossible less than an hour ago?” Percy asked defensively, folding his arms and pouting a little bit.

“Sea Prince, keep that pose a little longer,” Eros purred. “I want to commit it to memory.”

Percy instantly shifted position.

“His heart rate is stable, all of his vital signs are normal,” Apollo informed them, having curled his fingers around Will’s wrist while Eros had leered at Percy. “All we can do is wait for him to wake up.”

“We should leave you alone then,” Luke offered and gestured to himself, Percy, Icarus, and Jason as he spoke. “We don’t want to intrude.”

“Percy, can you stay?” Nico found himself requesting. He bit his lip, worrying that Percy would insist on following the others out of the door when he really wanted him to stay. It was a personal preference for company while they waited for Will to stir, knowing that Apollo’s attention would be fixed on his son and he didn’t want to be stuck making conversation with Eros when he needed to hear another person’s voice to reassure him that he wasn’t dreaming. Though, truly, Eros’ presence was enough to dispel any belief of the sort. The only dreams Nico had ever had that involved the presence of the love god were nightmares.

“Of course I can,” Percy responded softly, letting the others file out and the door close behind them. He went and perched on the end of the bed opposite Will’s, his presence a comforting one.

“So what happened?” Apollo asked again. The god sat on the empty bed that lay between Will and Eros before realising that there was now too great a distance between them. Nico watched as Apollo wandered over to the desk in the corner and dragged over the chair so he could sit at Will’s side and hold his hand, giving him the time to do so before speaking.

“You’re best asking Percy for the beginning of the explanation because I had fallen asleep on his shoulder and still don’t know the start,” Nico admitted, feeling awkward as the only one left standing. After a moment of consideration, he kicked off his shoes and discarded the cloak he’d been utilising as a blanket in the Amphitheatre on the bed behind him in the same way Percy had abandoned both his cloak and mask the minute the door closed. He lifted Will’s head and sat so his back was against the wall, one leg folded up and the other running down beside Will’s body before pillowing his head on his leg. Apollo gave him a fond look and he could tell that there was a blush staining his cheeks. 

It was as physically as close as he could get without just sliding in beside him and he knew from experience that cuddling in an infirmary bed was an undertaking that required coordination and planning from both parties. He was just going to have to be content with this, carding his fingers through Will’s hair to remind himself that his presence was real.

“Well, Seashell, you heard Moonshine.” Apollo turned his attention to Percy. “Please enlighten us about how my son is alive and lying in an infirmary bed when we thought we’d lost him forever only an hour ago.”

Percy seemed to be frozen in place for a moment, obviously searching for the right words to start with. “About half an hour after you left… Nico had fallen asleep on my shoulder and I was turning to check on him but the fire caught my attention. It was practically burnt down to the embers but the few remaining flames and the embers themselves were pure gold.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “There was something in the centre, growing larger the longer I looked. When it clicked that it was large enough to be a body, I started to remember the lines of the ritual and that’s when I woke Nico up.”

“I didn’t understand what was going on,” Nico admitted. “Even when they were lifting his body out of the fire, I thought I was still dreaming. There was this golden light that had formed above us all, illuminating the ring when the moon went behind the clouds. Even when I pulled back the shroud and saw his face, I thought that The Fates were playing another cruel trick. He wasn’t breathing, he was paler than a ghost and I thought that they wanted to haunt me with his image. Then the moon broke through the clouds and it was like the light was his soul re-entering his body.”

Nico dropped his gaze to Will’s emotionless face, running his fingers through golden strands. All he wanted was for Will to open his eyes again, to see the familiar blue gaze that he had missed so much. He didn’t know what he would say to him first, what he would do. All he could be certain of was the fact there would be tears.

“A few moments later and Nico was asking me to come and warn you,” Percy thankfully continued for him.

He cast a glance around the room and couldn’t help the small smile that grew on his face when he realised that he’d instinctively made a beeline for the bed he’d spent three days in after the war. Eros was likely being a better patient than he had been back then; he’d grumbled and whined about being there at every given opportunity, despite the fact he was right where he wanted to be. He’d wanted Will’s attention but wasn’t sure how to just ask for it. The excuses had worn thin within hours, especially when he’d complained about his pillows not being fluffy enough twice in a row and Will had let out an exasperated sigh and reminded him that after Nico had complained about them the third time, he’d gone and taken them from Nico’s actual bed. He still remembered the feeling of heat rushing into his cheeks, how he had ducked his head to avoid Will’s amused smile. The blush had only deepened when Will had sat on the end of his bed and laid a hand on Nico’s shin, telling him then and there that if he wanted company, he only had to ask.

“We know how well you handled  _ that  _ responsibility,” Eros snorted, teasing Percy. “Does the sight of our mutual friend often make you speechless? I know we asked if you had just seen a ghost, and sure the return of Sleeping Beauty over there  _ could  _ count as a supernatural encounter, but you really seemed to lose your words when Apollo called you a few cutesy nicknames.”

If someone had told Nico two months ago that he’d be thankful for  _ Eros  _ teasing  _ Percy Jackson _ , he would have asked if they’d been spending too much time with the fauns of Camp Jupiter… Or the Party Ponies of various chapters. This time two months ago he thought he was never going to see Percy Jackson alive again and he was still plagued with nightmares about Will’s death. Nightmares that had Eros in them, walking from the darkness of Nico’s dreams and taunting him with the possibility of losing his love for Will, telling him that one day he would wake and no longer have feelings for him.

On bad nights it was Percy who walked out of the darkness, Riptide run through his chest and blood dripping out of his mouth as he spoke. He’d always ask Nico the same thing: why had he never found him. Nico had always woken up, screaming, before he could tell Percy he’d tried, he’d searched for years and never given up.

And on the worst nights… On the worst nights it was Will who walked his nightmares. It was Will who was asking him questions he didn’t know how to answer, it was Will who was asking him questions that he didn’t  _ want  _ to answer. He’d always ask why Nico wasn’t there; why Nico wasn’t there when he was struck by lightning, why Nico wasn’t there as he’d screamed while Apollo had tried to fix the damage done, why Nico wasn’t there to hold his hand as he passed. He’d always ask why they’d had to argue before his death and Nico would always find himself begging for forgiveness as he was pulled back into the land of the living, face wet with tears that his dreams had caused him to shed.

Looking down at Will, he realised that he’d finally have the opportunity to tackle some of the demons that had spent four years haunting him. They’d finally be able to resolve the argument that they’d been having before Nico had departed from Camp, not knowing it would be the last time he saw his boyfriend alive. Until now.

This was an opportunity he thought he was never going to get.

“Oh my gods,” Percy groaned in response to Eros’ teasing, reminding Nico that he wasn’t alone in the room. The son of Poseidon was hiding his head in his hands and refusing to look at any of them.

“Going to answer the question, Starfish?” Apollo laughed, clearly delighted by the turn of events.

“I was speechless because I didn’t know what to say!” Percy defended himself, looking to Nico for aid. “Neeks, help me out here.”

Nico considered joining in for a moment, taking the side of the two grinning gods that were ganging up on Percy before shaking his head and giving him a fond smile. “I  _ did  _ ask you to come and warn Apollo about a very sensitive subject.”

“Baby Jack Skellington,  _ please _ ,” Eros snorted. “Sea Prince over there froze up because Apollo called him ‘Seashell’ and ‘babe’ all in the same sentence.”

“I did not freeze up because Apollo used the nickname he’s been using since he became aware of my identity!” Percy argued.

“Wait, he called you  _ babe _ ?” Nico raised an eyebrow, realising what Eros had actually said. He exchanged grins with the two gods, firmly back on their side. “I didn’t know  _ babe  _ was what he’d been calling you for weeks,  _ Seashell.  _ Something you want to share with the group?”

“Oh, baby Prince of Darkness, I could kiss you right now,” Eros cackled.

“Hey,” A familiar voice rasped, slightly hoarse with disuse. “That’s my line.”

Nico’s fingers stilled in Will’s hair, freezing up completely as the room silenced.

“Babe?” Will’s uncertain tone and gentle hand on his knee was what finally made him look down, locking eyes with his boyfriend. He could feel the tears beginning to slide down his face already, the sheer shock at hearing Will’s voice for the first time in four years overwhelming him. “Who said you could quit stroking my hair?”

Nico couldn’t help the surprised laugh that escaped him, couldn’t help the ridiculous smile that was crossing his face. He started to run his fingers through Will’s hair again, utterly transfixed by his boyfriend’s gentle smile.

“Oh my gods,” He finally managed to choke out, his own voice thick with emotion. “ _ Amore _ ,  _ Tesoro _ ,  _ Luce della mia Vita.  _ You’re here, you’re alive.”

“Oh, so  _ he’s  _ the light of your life?” Apollo’s voice was similar to his, though he was trying to be humorous. “What am I?”

“ _ Not _ my significant annoyance,” Nico informed him without looking up, unable to tear his eyes away from Will’s face for a second. The smile he was sporting was beautiful, light sparkling in his eyes as he found humour in Nico’s words. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Will admitted softly. “Let me up a little?”

Nico reluctantly withdrew his hand.

“Dad?” Will directed at Apollo who still had his hand on Will’s. “That means you have to let go too?”

Apollo’s eyes widened when he realised that Will was acknowledging someone that wasn’t Nico, that his son was smiling at him for the first time in four years. Nico had a horrible sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t the reaction Apollo had expected if his attempts to find humour in the situation were anything to go by. Until now, Nico had assumed that Apollo’s immediate reaction to being reunited with his son would be to smother him in hugs and exclamations of delight. Now, Apollo was clinging to Will’s wrist as if it were a lifeline. As if he wouldn’t get the opportunity to hold him again if he let go.

“Dad?” Will repeated, concern colouring his tone.

“Sorry.” Apollo flinched and withdrew.

Nico could feel Will tense up, just as surprised as he was about Apollo’s reaction. He looked across the room to see a conflicted expression on Percy’s face, as if he wanted to intervene and say something to Apollo. Nico felt like he’d seen that look on Percy’s face a lot ever since he’d summoned Will in the Labyrinth and he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something about the encounter that Percy hadn’t told him. His mind went back to earlier that evening, unable to believe that it had slipped his mind – even momentarily. Apollo had blamed himself for missing something, he had learnt that much, but he didn’t know the true extent of the god’s feelings on the matter until confronted with them in that moment.

Will shifted, sitting up so he could lean back against Nico’s chest and look at the other occupants of the room with ease. He only had eyes for his dad though, reaching out his hand in offering.

“Kiddo, I’m sorry,” Apollo sounded devastated, refusing to look at them properly. His eyes were fixed on the spot their hands had just been lying in, his apology obviously for more than not letting go.

“I’ve been awake for less than ten minutes,” Will’s voice was soft, as if he was approaching a wounded patient. “What could you have possibly done to upset me in that time?”

Apollo looked lost and confused, as if the interaction wasn’t going in the direction he had feared. “I- Will-”

“You blame yourself, don’t you?” Percy spoke up, cutting off Apollo’s attempt to speak. All eyes went to him and he looked slightly apologetic for stealing the moment. “Sorry, I’ve been meaning to pull you aside and speak to you ever since I saw how you reacted when I told you Nico had summoned Will. I was going to come after you before but Nico said to let you have some space.”

“Why wouldn’t I blame myself?” Apollo asked, as if they were suggesting a foreign concept. He seemed to be genuinely confused and Nico didn’t know how the god had managed to hide such a big thing from him for years. “Will, you died on my watch. I missed something, I screwed up.”

“You didn’t.” Will’s voice was filled with regret and Nico could only feel his confusion increasing. “I swear, you didn’t miss anything.”

“Of course I did!” Apollo argued. “If I didn’t miss something, you wouldn’t have died. You wouldn’t have spent four years at the mercy of The Fates, Nathan wouldn’t have been able to trade you for Octavian because you would have  _ lived _ . I missed something that night and I’m never going to be able to forgive myself for it.”

“You didn’t-”

“Don’t say that, don’t try and make me feel better,” Apollo cut Will off. “I left you alone that night, thinking that I’d healed you, that it would just be a matter of time, ambrosia, and nectar before you’d be back on your feet, that you’d be up and smiling when Nico came home and he’d never let you out of his sight again.  _ I left you _ . I left you alone for fifteen minutes and I came back and you couldn’t breathe, you were bleeding, and I had to hold you as you tried to take your final breaths. So tell me again, Will, tell me that I didn’t screw up. Tell me I’m not the reason you died that night.”

Nico could feel his heart racing, staring at Apollo in disbelief. He knew there were things that had happened the night of Will’s death that he’d said that he didn’t want to hear, that there were things that he’d asked Apollo to keep secret. He wasn’t expecting the truth to come out now, barely moments after they’d got Will back.

“You didn’t miss anything,” Will repeated calmly.

Apollo opened his mouth again, ready to argue.

Surprisingly, it was Percy who silenced him. “Apollo, wait,” Percy cautioned, guilt in his eyes. Nico knew then and there that there was something that Percy knew that the rest of them didn’t. Something Will had told him down in the Labyrinth, something that Will had obviously asked him to keep secret. “Let Will explain.”

Will shifted slightly, tapping his arm so he’d look down and meet his gaze. “Babe, please don’t get mad at Percy.”

“Why would I get mad at Percy?” Nico asked, wanting to hear with his own ears that there was a secret to be told.

“I told him something in the Labyrinth so I could be at peace, not knowing then that I could be brought back,” Will explained softly. “Even then, I asked him not to tell you because I wouldn’t be here to comfort you after hearing it and I couldn’t bear that. When he told me that the trade could be reversed, I still asked him to wait.”

“I thought it should come from Will,” Percy agreed, nodding.

“Dad, you didn’t miss anything,” Will repeated once more before finally expanding. “The night I died… There was nothing you missed. Nothing you missed  _ before  _ you had to go and speak with Dionysus.”

“What?” Apollo looked stunned, his face mirroring Nico’s.

“I don’t know who, but someone was telling someone else that they’d heard I was going to pull through. Nathan overheard and panicked. It would look pretty suspicious if another of Apollo’s kids died the day after my near-death experience, right?” Will laughed harshly. Nico wound his arms around his boyfriend, hoping to the gods that his presence was acting as a small comfort. He could already see where this was going and all of his instincts were telling him to flee so he wouldn’t have to hear the truth. “He was all too happy to tell me that he’d been waiting outside for a couple of hours, waiting to see if dad would leave me alone. Then he explained to me his ‘reasoning’ as to why I had to die.”

Apollo was looking at his son with abject horror. “He didn’t.”

“I couldn’t fight him, not with the state I was in,” Will shook his head and Nico could only tighten his grip on him, hoping he’d never have to let go. “I thought I was going to choke to death with him looming over me but then you came back, dad. You came back and I honestly don’t know which option would have been worse because it broke my heart to hear your voice when you realised there was something wrong. But it was never your fault. You didn’t miss anything, I swear. It was Nathan, it was all Nathan.”

Apollo’s eyes began to glow gold despite the tears that were falling from them. “Baby, no.” Apollo shook his head. “ _ No. _ ”

Nico felt numb.

All of the years that Nathan had taunted him about Will’s death and he’d  _ known  _ that he was the one to blame. The one to deliver the final blow.

“You were never to blame,” Will reassured Apollo. “Never.”

Apollo tentatively moved closer, wrapping his arms around them both.

“And you’re squishing me,” Will announced, though it was muffled by the fact he was stuck between Apollo and Nico. “I’ve been awake less than an hour and you’re already trying to send me back to Hades.”

“My dad can  _ fight me  _ if he thinks he’s stealing you away from me anytime soon,” Nico found himself hissing, much to the amusement of the rest of the room. It was just the thing to spark lightness in the dark of their conversation he realised as Apollo moved away from them, shoulders shaking with laughter instead of tears.

“I’m not planning on going anywhere anytime soon,” Will assured him, turning his head and pressing a kiss against Nico’s clothed chest before looking up at him with an unsure expression. “You do still want this, right?”

Nico felt flabbergasted, unable to stop the sharp burst of hysterical laughter that escaped him before he spoke. “Will, amore, do you seriously think  _ dying  _ would get you out of this relationship?”

Percy snorted across the room.

Nico continued regardless. “You’re stuck with me. I can either haunt you or make you haunt me.” He stopped for a second, suddenly feeling unsure. “…You do still like  _ me _ , right?”

Will moved faster than he probably should have, considering that he’d only just risen from the grave, but Nico wasn’t going to complain when Will was up and twisting so he could sit and pull Nico in for a kiss.

It felt like coming home.

The ever-persistent grief from the last four years melted away with the warmth he felt with Will’s lips on his, joy blossoming in his chest now that he had his sunlight back to nurture it. He reached up to cup Will’s cheek, almost laughing at the wetness he felt because he knew for a fact that his own face would be wet too. For the first time in forever, they were tears of happiness instead of tears of grief.

When they parted, Will leaned his forehead against Nico’s and laughed softly, wiping away Nico’s tears with a soft touch. “Does that answer the question, Numbskull?”

“They are sickeningly adorable,” Eros declared from his corner of the room, reminding them of his existence and breaking the romantic moment.

“Babe?” Will whispered, sounding extremely confused. “Who’s the guy in the corner and why is he looking at us like that?”

“Lovebug, would you please stop looking at my son and my son-in-law like you want to keep them in a glass jar for the rest of time?” Apollo sighed.

“Wait,  _ what  _ did you just refer to Nico as?” Will yelped. “And calling him, whoever he is,  _ Lovebug  _ does not answer my question!”

“Truly one of the best songs by The Jonas Brothers,” Apollo declared. “And I called him your boyfriend.”

“No you didn’t,” Will argued.

“Yes I did.” Apollo beamed at him. “And that’s Eros, by the way.”

“No, you didn’t!” Will shook his head. “Wait,  _ really _ ?”

“Kiddo, I had to watch you stick your tongue in Moonshine’s mouth with little to no warning, I think I’m entitled to call him whatever I want.” Apollo smirked at them. Nico could feel a blush rising in his cheeks; he’d completely forgotten that Apollo was sitting a few feet away, and honestly, he wasn’t sure how much he cared after the initial embarrassment of being called out for it. “Say hi to Eros though!”

“Hi Eros?” Will gave said god an awkward wave.

“He’s that kidnapped god I was telling you about,” Percy reminded Will. “Amongst everything else.”

“Ooooh!” Eros sounded delighted. “I’m glad I came up in conversation. Even if you didn’t know who you were looking for at the time.”

Will twisted to look at Percy, making Nico  _ almost  _ miss the mischievous look on his boyfriend’s face. “You may have mentioned something about a missing god in between trying to convince me that you weren’t dating my dad.” Will paused for dramatic effect. “Correct me if I’m wrong though, but weren’t you discussing my dad calling you ‘babe’ when I woke up? Were you lying to a dead man, Percy?”

“Oh my gods,” Percy groaned, eyeing the door as if he was about to flee. 

“Yeah Sea Prince, we  _ were  _ discussing Apollo calling you ‘babe’ when the delightful William awoke,” Eros joined in on the ribbing. 

“Can’t we go back to Apollo calling Nico his son-in-law?” Percy asked. “That was entertaining. And I’ve already said that I was speechless because I didn’t know how to tell Apollo about Will! We all know how well I handled telling you about speaking to his ghost, this was ten times worse.”

“I’m going to make a wild assumption and say you didn’t handle it well?” Will asked, curiosity colouring his tone. 

“Tesoro, you should have heard him,” Nico laughed, realising now that he could find humour in the situation. Now that he had Will back, leaning against him with a solid and warm weight that confirmed Nico wasn’t hallucinating. “Jason was getting pissed off about the fact he’d let some ‘random ghost dude’ send Leo off into the unknown and Percy was just digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole because he didn’t know how to admit that he’d spoken to you. He had us half convinced that I’d managed to summon someone from the Fields of Punishment and I thought my dad would be trying to murder me at the next family get-together.”

“This was after we’d established Nico had managed to summon a spirit before he passed out,” Apollo informed Will. “Before that, when we’d just rushed into the room, I said to Seashell that he looked like he’d seen a ghost and all he said was ‘funny you should say that’ and didn’t expand until we started asking more questions.”

“I was shocked!” Percy defended himself, though there was a grin on his face that gave away the fact he knew the teasing was light-hearted. “Come on, you know that you would have been shocked as well.”

“Probably as shocked as I was when you told me that you could bring me back,” Will nodded in agreement. 

“Did you think I would just leave you for dead?” Nico asked softly, unable to stop himself.

“As much as it pains me to say it because I don’t want to let Will out of my sight, but do you want us to let you have some privacy?” Apollo offered, despite the fact the prospect obviously upset him. “I have a feeling that this conversation will require a lot of hugs and comforting, and I definitely don’t need to see you sticking your tongues in each other’s mouths again. Let a father maintain his sanity, please.” 

“Have you developed a sense of shame in the last four years?” Eros snorted. “I can think of plenty of times that you have scarred your own father and not all of them were as innocent as kisses.”

“You’re making me wish we had left you in the Labyrinth,” Apollo warned.

“Oh Sunflower, you would never do such a thing!” Eros cackled. “You and I know your heart is too big to leave a man behind.”

“I say yes to making them go away,” Will murmured while Apollo and Eros started to bicker again. “I want to kiss you properly, without having to twist at an awkward angle, and I’m well aware that my dad will start screaming if I dare to move again. I think his eye was twitching when I moved so I could kiss you the first time.”

“His eye was definitely twitching,” Nico laughed. “I think he’s been driven insane by spending so much time with demigods who have no regard for their health.”

“Would you be one of them?” Will asked, suspicion colouring his tone.

“Tesoro,” Nico laughed again. “Do you seriously think I can get away with anything when I’ve got your father on my tail? He stabbed me with an IV a few weeks ago because I made the mistake of summoning a few skeletons in front of him and then had to Shadow Travel to Olympus with Percy.”

“Good,” Will huffed. “I would have done the exact same thing.”

“I know you would.” Nico knew the smile on his face was ridiculous but he couldn’t help it. He’d dreamt about having silly interactions like this for the past four years, he was allowed to smile like an idiot. “And I would have complained about it just as much.”

“No,” Will informed him. “You would have complained  _ more _ .”

“It’s so nice to know that you value our presence,” Apollo complained, reminding them that there will still other people in the room. “We could have walked out and you wouldn’t have noticed.”

“No, we wouldn’t have,” Nico agreed cheerily. “I thought that was the plan anyway?”

“Starfish over there made a rather good point,” Apollo responded, gesturing to Percy who looked solidly unimpressed by the new nickname.

“What was it?” Nico asked.

“It might be a good idea to take Will to your room in the Chaos Cabin, just in case someone wanders in here at first light for a band-aid and finds you two instead and decides to scream the place down because they’ll think the Infirmary is haunted,” Percy suggested. “I know Hazel is staying in your Cabin, so it’s not like you can go there without waking her up.”

“He does make a very good point,” Will conferred with Nico. “You know how much of a pain it is to share one of these beds and no doubt one of my siblings will be in here at first light for the morning shift.”

“I wouldn’t want to end up on the floor, because there’s no doubt it would be me that would accidentally fall off,” Nico agreed. “And I don’t fancy being woken up by one of your siblings getting pissed off about us sharing a bed again before they realise that you’re back from the dead and then they’d be yelling for a whole different reason.”

“I’m just going to stick my fingers in my ears and sing loudly so I can pretend I didn’t just hear anything about ‘bed-sharing’ come out of either of your mouths,” Apollo huffed. “There’s just some things a dad doesn’t need to hear about!”

“And I’m going to point out, again, that you’ve let your daddy dearest find you doing far  _ worse  _ than sharing-”

“There’s some things that a  _ son  _ doesn’t need to hear about their  _ father _ !” Will interrupted Eros.

“I agree with Will, can we please not discuss my extra-curricular activities with the present company?” Apollo pouted. “Seashell might start to judge me. Not that I have anything to  _ hide _ , I just-”

“Can we just agree that Will is staying with me and leave it at that?” Nico asked, deciding to step in before Apollo dug himself a deeper grave.

“ _ Please _ ,” Will groaned.

“There’s the added bonus of Nathan’s friends not knowing that we were successful in trading Octavian for Will.” Percy added with a sheepish look on his face, “Which, I swear, was the second thing to cross my mind.”

“No, you make a valid point,” Will sighed. “The element of surprise would work in our favour.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll speak to Nathan and see who he names and then I’ll check in with Achilles, Patroclus, and Beckendorf to see if they’ve learned anything while we’ve been gone. They can also verify whether or not Nathan tells us the truth about the names.” Percy promised. “We’ll be able to round them up then and you’ll be able to be reunited with your friends and siblings without having to worry about someone trying to slip a dagger in your back.”

“Thanks for reminding me of that possibility, Percy.” Nico glared at him before glancing down at Will. “Amore, would you-”

“If the next words from your mouth were about to be a request for me to wear armour everywhere, don’t finish that sentence,” Will cut him off with a threat. “I’ll shove you off the bed, gods help me.”

Nico made the wise choice to remain silent.

“We’ll escort you,” Percy stood, swinging his cloak around his shoulders. “Oh, and Apollo?”

“Yes, Seashell?” Apollo gave him a sunny smile.

“You might want to keep one eye open when you sleep tonight… If you actually do that kind of thing. I’m realising now that you didn’t sleep in the Labyrinth and-”

“I sleep sometimes,” Apollo thankfully cut him off, saving him from rambling on.

“Oh good.” Percy looked relieved. “Well, if you sleep tonight, keep one eye open. Orion might try and shoot you in your sleep.”

“Thanks for the heads-up, Starfish.” Apollo grimaced before giving Nico and Will a blinding smile. “Are we getting out of your hair then?”

“I still think that I could have walked,” Will argued as Nico carried him across to the Chaos Cabin. It was a lot easier to carry the awake and complaining version of his boyfriend than it was to carry Will’s dead weight, even when he wouldn’t shut up about being perfectly capable of walking. Nico knew that, if their situations were reversed, he’d be doing the exact same thing; complaining until Will threatened to drop him. He had absolutely no intention of doing so, however, perfectly happy to hear the sound of Will’s voice and carry the warm weight of his body.

They thankfully didn’t encounter anyone on the short trip, though Will was wrapped in Nico’s cloak in order to hide his identity regardless. It was something else he had complained about until he’d actually swung it around his shoulders and realised that it was essentially like wearing a blanket he’d stolen from Nico’s bed. Apollo had cracked a joke about ‘Parfum de Mort’, resulting in a glare from his son and had promptly shut up.

“Babe, did you help design their Cabin?” Will teased as Percy opened the door for them. “Is it making you want to redesign yours? Add more spires, gargoyles, and flaming torches?”

“You never used to complain about my Cabin when you were sneaking in every night because Henry snored,” Nico pointed out.

“Can we  _ please  _ wait until Will’s  _ father  _ is out of earshot before you two start canoodling again?” Apollo complained behind them. “There’s things I don’t need to know and the fact he used to spend most nights in your Cabin is one of them. It was bad enough hearing about the bed sharing in the infirmary!”

“I haven’t a clue what you’re going on about Apollo, where on earth did you get such an idea from?” Nico deadpanned, keeping a perfectly straight face. “Will has never stayed in my Cabin.”

“The pair of you are little shits,” Apollo huffed. “And I love you. But  _ please _ . There are things I don’t need to know.”

“You’re literally the one who suggested leaving us alone!” Will protested. “If you want to stop hearing things that damage your delicate sensibilities, actually do it!”

“I’m waiting for your boyfriend to carry you away so I  _ can  _ leave you alone!” Apollo bickered back, looking as if he was actually enjoying himself. Nico supposed he was, in a way, but he was well aware that his arms were beginning to ache and he had no intention of dropping Will unceremoniously.

“Your wish is my command,” Nico pretended that he was responding to Apollo’s words in a mocking way, but he was mentally thanking the god for giving him the perfect opportunity to whisk Will away. “We’ll see you all in the morning.”

“No funny business!” Apollo screeched after them as Nico carried Will upstairs.

He’d opened and closed the door with his foot, glad that he’d left it ajar otherwise he would have had to go back to the stairway and shout for Percy to come and assist yet again.

“My hero,” Will chuckled before tapping Nico’s chest. “Put me down before you drop me? I know you’ll deny all allegations, but I know you’ve probably been worrying about dropping me since you picked me up in the first place.”

“I absolutely  _ will _ deny all allegations of such lies and slander.” Nico huffed good-naturedly before setting Will on his feet. It was only then, when he was standing face to face with his boyfriend that he realised something terrible.

_ Will was still taller than him _ .

He was barely an inch taller, but he  _ was _ still taller. It was in that moment that Nico realised that Will was obviously older, either the same age as Nico himself or older – he couldn’t quite tell. He’d been so caught up in the euphoria of having him back that he hadn’t even questioned his slightly different appearance, even as he’d sat and stared at him while he’d tuned out Apollo, Eros, and Percy talking earlier.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Will asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked at him with concern in his eyes.

“You look different,” Nico blurted out in response. “You’re older, taller. It’s like you never left me, like you’ve lived with me through these years.”

“I don’t know how old I am,” Will confessed with a shrug of his shoulders. “The Fates mentioned something about Octavian using my life force, meaning my soul aged with him. I just don’t know how much he aged, what with the enchantment the gods placed on Camp.”

Nico’s mind went to the enchantment and winced. It had been a desperate attempt by the Olympian Council to placate them after Percy’s disappearance, when people began to panic about the implications of losing one of their most powerful mechanisms of defence. The gods’ response to Campers being concerned about not having enough time to learn to defend themselves was to give them more time in the only way they knew how; by placing an age suspension spell upon the borders of Camp.

It had caused arguments between them in the first year of Percy’s absence, with Nico attending school while Will was stuck in Camp. He’d been a year-rounder for the majority of his time in Camp – it was easier for both Will and Naomi, Will’s mom swept away regularly by her career. Will faced being thrown around the country for months at a time, leading monsters wherever they went, or having a permanent home at Camp Half-Blood. He chose the latter every time. But when the enchantment was placed and Nico had his commitments to school and Sally that meant he couldn’t be bound to Camp in the same way Will was, they’d argued. Will had been terrified that Nico would leave him behind, continue living his life while Will was frozen in time in the same way Nico had been in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. 

A lot of people had hated the enchantment, had argued with Chiron over the necessity over it, but the Centaur had remained firm but fair on the matter; live with it for several years while the gods still prided themselves on creating such a ‘helpful’ mechanism, and as soon as he could, Chiron would petition them to remove it on the basis it was causing a divide between year-rounders and those who only attended Camp during school holidays.

Nico had benefited from it during the time he spent in Camp, moving there permanently after graduating, despite being vehemently against it at first. He’d come to look at it as something that would grant him more time to search for the people he loved, something that would give him more time to chase after fruitless leads on Percy and search the depths of the Underworld for Will’s soul.

Now he had Will back and he didn’t know how old either of them were.

“From what I’ve heard, from Nathan and Octavian themselves, Octavian spent a lot of time at Camp,” Nico admitted, reaching up to brush a stray strand of blonde out of the way. “But he’d use the Labyrinth to get out of Camp whenever he wanted.”

“So what you’re saying is that you have about the same idea as I do about my age?” Will raised an eyebrow. “Which is, you haven’t got any idea.”

“Hold that thought,” Nico begged, holding up a hand. He spun, yanking open the door, with the intent of marching out and finding Apollo to ask him to figure out how old his son was.

Apollo practically fell through said door.

“Seriously?” Nico groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I told him not to do it,” Eros informed them loftily from where he was hovering in the corridor. Opposite, the door to Percy’s room was open and he could see the equally unimpressed son of Poseidon staring out at the scene. The t-shirt he had been wearing was balled up in his hands and he was now frozen, attention obviously caught by the idiot sun god. “He insisted that he only wanted to make sure Will was okay.”

“Dad!” Will’s protest was more of a high-pitched whine than an actual word. “ _ Seriously _ ?”

“If you were listening, can you please give us an answer to the question I was coming to ask you?” Nico requested, knowing he sounded the same way he felt – long suffering. “And then can you please go and harass someone else?”

“Oh look, Ariel is shirtless,” Eros’ tone was dry, though there was delight dancing in his eyes.

Percy let out a yelp as Apollo’s head swivelled towards him so fast that Nico feared he’d break his neck. Then suddenly, he was looking back at Nico and Will. “You’re both eighteen, I’d have to hold your hands to figure out how many months and days into being eighteen you are, but that can be left until a later date. Now, I love you both, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and please don’t do anything too scarring when we’re only across the hallway.”

Apollo spun on his heel at that, grabbing Eros and manhandling him into Percy’s room, shutting the door as Percy began to protest “Apollo! You have your own roo-”

“Why is he so embarrassing?” Will asked as Nico shut the door and turned the lock for good measure. He didn’t want to wait and see if Percy succeeded in kicking Apollo and Eros out, despite the hilarity the scene would probably contain, and he also didn’t want to wake up in the morning to Apollo standing an inch away from their bedside. Or worse, sat at the foot of the bed.

“He’s your father,” Nico couldn’t help but laugh. He advanced back towards his boyfriend, unable to keep the affectionate smile off his face at the sight of him. His hair was a blonde halo with the soft glow of the lamp beside the bed that he’d taken a momentary detour to switch on, allowing him to switch off the overhead light. When he was level with him, close enough to touch, Will reached out and looped his arms around Nico’s neck. It forced him to step closer, flush with Will’s chest, and allowed Will to rest his chin on Nico’s shoulder once he’d moved his arms down to wrap around Nico’s waist. He could feel Will’s heartbeat, reminding him that he truly had him back.

“I’ve wanted to hold you like this since I opened my eyes,” Will confessed in a whisper. Nico lifted his arms to wrap around Will’s neck, content to just stand there. “Actually, I’m lying to you,” Will’s chuckle was ticklish against his neck, “I’ve wanted to hold you since you summoned me in the Labyrinth. I had to settle for a kiss before I had to leave instead.”

“I could settle for a kiss right now,” Nico admitted. “Since the one and only kiss we’ve shared since you woke up was  _ in front of your dad _ .”

“Hey!” Will laughed softly again. “You were just as guilty as I was.”

“You’re the one who kissed me!” Nico protested.

“You were the one who was being stupid over whether or not I still liked you!” Will bickered back. He shifted so he was resting his forehead against Nico’s, their breath intermingling. “Which was  _ very  _ stupid.”

“What are you going to do to prove me wrong?” Nico goaded. “Kiss me?”

“Well, if you insist,” Will laughed before breaking apart so he could angle his head slightly and lean in for a kiss without doing something that would only result in laughter; like hitting their noses against each other. Will’s lips were ever so slightly chapped, something that felt a little strange when Nico was familiar with the memory of his boyfriend throwing tubes of SPF lip balm at his head in summer and insisting that he had to look after his lips if he wanted Will to continue kissing them. He’d once nailed Nico right in the nose, his shock genuine as he’d expected Nico to duck out of the way. Austin had complained to Kayla about them putting him off target when Will kept kissing Nico’s nose in apology, leading only to Will over-exaggerating the action deliberately.

“Why are you laughing when I’m trying to kiss you?” Will complained.

“Sorry amore,” Nico laughed softly. “I was just remembering when you hit me in the nose with a tube of lip balm.”

“Seriously?” Will stepped back and looked extremely unimpressed. “ _ That’s  _ what comes to mind when I’m kissing you for the third time in four years?”

“Second,” Nico corrected. “I wasn’t conscious when you kissed me in the Labyrinth. I was left wondering why I was covered in gold glitter until Perce decided to enlighten me.”

“Fine, second  _ conscious  _ time,” Will corrected himself. “It’s hardly my fault that you over-exerted yourself by using your powers too much.”

“Well, I didn’t have you there to follow me around and tell me I had to stop.” Nico smirked at him. “ _ Doctor’s Orders _ .”

Will’s expression was soft, vulnerability flashing across his face as he gave Nico a smile. It was his turn to reach up and brush hair away from Nico’s eyes before his fingers trailed down Nico’s cheek. He cupped his face and leant in for a sweet kiss, pressing his lips to Nico’s once more. This time he purposefully cleared his mind and allowed himself to get lost in the sensation, feeling his knees go weak as Will splayed his other hand against Nico’s lower back. Warmth radiated from Will’s palm, sending heat up Nico’s spine and warming him to the core. He’d missed the sensation of warmth that Will’s touch brought to him, nothing ever comparing. He felt warm inside and out, Will bringing a light to his life like a brightly burning torch. Will’s blankets and oversized t-shirts that had long lost the scent of the boy he loved only did so much to warm his freezing bones. Now he had Will back and he never intended to let him go again.

“Please tell me that you’re not thinking about me hitting you with lip balm again?” Will asked when they reluctantly broke apart.

“I’m not,” Nico promised. “I was thinking about how much I’ve missed you. You made me feel warm.”

“Like fever warm?” Will asked playfully, pressing a hand to Nico’s forehead.

“Funny.” Nico tried for sarcastic disapproval but didn’t succeed.

“Well, as your attending Doctor, all I can do is prescribe you with bed and cuddles with your  _ very  _ attractive boyfriend.” Will grinned at him. “Doctor’s Orders.”

“Have you seen my boyfriend anywhere?” Nico asked playfully. “About your height, very pretty, hair that looks like it has been spun from Imperial Gold, and freckles that I like to count like constellations.” A soft blush spread across said freckles, Will ducking his head as Nico smiled at him softly. “Oh wait, I think I’ve found him. He’s standing right in front of me.”

“When I kissed you for the first time, I did not realise I was signing myself up for the cheesiest boyfriend known to man,” Will teased affectionately.

“Says the one who kissed me for the first time on the stroke of midnight, on New Year’s Eve, as fireworks started to explode above us,” Nico retorted. “That’s like, the most cliché and cheesy thing ever!” He couldn’t resist the opportunity to lean in and kiss Will again, a soft peck on the lips before levelling him with a serious look. “We can argue over which one of us is the worst when we’re comfortable in bed. I don’t need you collapsing on me and your dad running in because he heard a loud noise.”

“I never thought I’d see the day when you would be the one advocating for us to do something sensible,” Will laughed before moving towards Nico’s bed. “And hey, you got a few details wrong there!”

“So maybe I twisted one or two of them to make it sound a little more cliché, sue me, it’s the story I like to tell other people,” Nico laughed. “It’s near enough what happened!”

Will finally sank down on the edge of the bed, Nico choosing not to call him out for the look of relief that flickered across his face when he no longer had to stand. “Got any pyjamas?” Will looked down at his Camp t-shirt and dark wash jeans, a confused look on his face. “Because I’m pretty sure I’m still wearing what I wore when Tanner tried to fry me with a broken Oath, pre-lightning strike and I don’t know if I want to preserve it for the memories or burn it in the next Campfire.”

Nico couldn’t help the strangled noise of upset that escaped him at the mention of Will’s death, wincing when Will’s eyes widened in concern.

“Babe?” Will reached out for him. The minute he was in range, Will grabbed him and pulled him to stand between his thighs, wrapping his arms and legs around him tightly. Nico bowed his head to bury his nose in gold curls, squeezing his eyes shut in the hope it would stop tears from forming. “I’m sorry,” Will murmured, stroking Nico’s back.

“I hate Nathan for taking you away from me,” Nico admitted. “And I hate Tanner and everyone else involved for  _ helping  _ him.”

“I’m not leaving you again,” Will promised. “I love you.”

“Good,” Nico responded fiercely. “I love you too.”

Eventually he stepped away, despite the hurt he felt as he placed distance between them; even if it was only to rifle through his drawers to find pyjamas for them both. He tossed Will a t-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts with practised ease before swapping his own clothing for a similar outfit. He had no qualms about the fact he was changing into Will’s old Camp t-shirt, only blushing slightly as he moved back towards Will and his boyfriend’s eyebrow raised in response to the faded item.

“I missed you,” Nico gave the simple response; not wanting to go into details about how he used to sleep curled up with the t-shirt in his grasp, as if it would bring Will back if he wished hard enough. Instead he slid into bed beside his boyfriend and slipped his arms around him, snuggling closer and entwining their legs beneath the duvet. He couldn’t keep the content smile off his face as he rested his head on Will’s shoulder, attaching himself to his boyfriend like a limpet while they began to chat about the events of the last four years.

Will was back and Nico was never going to let anything separate them again.

  
  



	55. A Son of Poseidon Wants to Fight the Sun.

Percy didn’t attempt to stifle his yawn as he walked into the War Room to find his entire team, present and whole again. Only Nico and Apollo were missing; the former either still asleep or catching up with Will, while the latter had left for Olympus late the night before to inform them of Eros’ presence after Percy had finally managed to kick them out of his room. The love god had taken up residence in Apollo’s barely used room, having refused to accompany Apollo while his powers were still fluctuating between non-existent and barely existent. The sun god had promised to be back before mid-afternoon, saying that there could be nothing that would have him separated from his son for too long.

The absences provided Percy with the perfect opportunity to catch up with his team; something that they had only barely managed to do the day previous. Even at the campfire the night before, they had barely been able to reunite properly with Percy’s attention forced in multiple directions.

“He lives!” Orion proclaimed from where he was sitting beside Theseus, smile bright. “Little brother, it is wonderful to see your face.”

“I’m so glad you’re all here now,” Percy admitted, looking around the room and smiling. His team was whole again, a fact that he kept having to remind himself of. He hated it when they split up and had hated it even more when he’d had to split off from his own half of the group to chase after Nathan and Octavian. “I’ve missed you.”

“You owe me five drachmas,” Jason - the original Jason - laughed, elbowing Odysseus in the ribs. “I told you he would tell us that he missed us.”

“Ah,” Odysseus smirked. “You specified that it would be the first thing he said. It was the second, so  _ you  _ owe  _ me  _ five drachmas.”

“I thought you’d learned by now to never make bets with Odysseus?” Percy raised an eyebrow as he flopped into the empty chair between Luke and Icarus.

“Nobody listens to that advice.” Odysseus winked at him. “So please stop reminding them.”

“He even managed to win the bet of how much longer our Quest would last,” Theseus grumbled. 

“You were going in circles last I saw you, I didn’t think I’d find you back at Camp,” Percy recalled his trip to see the others, along with the words he’d heard from those he’d stolen away. “I thought you wouldn’t be here for another few weeks at the very least.”

“We live to surprise.” Orion quirked a smile at him.

Phoebe elbowed him in the ribs and rolled her eyes. “What Orion  _ means  _ to say is that after your visit, it was as if everything aligned for us to finish as swiftly as possible. We had Tyche on our side all of a sudden, after weeks of everything going against us.”

Percy frowned.

“It was weird,” Achilles agreed with her, nodding his head. “Obviously I wasn’t there for the resolution but when I was reunited with Patroclus and was given the opportunity to discuss our venture with him, we both agreed that everything was too suspicious to be a coincidence.”

“It was like something was intentionally screwing with us, preventing us from finding an easy resolution,” Patroclus spoke up to support Achilles. 

“We established that the source of the problems was a low-level trickster god, but we found their body shortly afterwards and they’d been dead for longer than they should have been.” Theseus shook his head, looking a little confused and frustrated. “It didn’t make sense; if the length of time they’d been dead for matched how long we’d operated unplagued, it would have been fine. But Chaos called and said it was time for us to move on, so we let the matter be. We wanted to be reunited with the rest of you.”

“My tracking spells didn’t work until the final day either, when they should have led us to the body from the instant he died and his shielding spells with him,” frustration coloured Alabaster’s tone, a matching scowl on his face.

It was the first time Percy had seen him since he had arrived back in Camp the day previous and he was well aware that Alabaster’s frustrations probably derived elsewhere as well. Namely the fact that he was within the borders of Camp Half-Blood for the first time since his banishment after the First War. Percy was well aware of the conditions imposed upon Alabaster for the gods to have consented to his presence here; that the son of Hecate had to stay within the walls of the Chaos Cabin and not alert his siblings to his presence. It was harsh, he was well aware of that fact, but there was little that could be done to renegotiate the agreement with so little warning. It was something Alabaster had agreed to so he could return to the land of the living and he’d agreed easily under the assumption they wouldn’t be going anywhere near either of the Camps anytime soon. He’d also had to agree to not try and kill Percy; something he’d been a little more begrudging about until they’d gotten used to working with one another, before eventually forging a tentative friendship.

“Anything else weird happen?” Percy asked, frowning himself. It sounded bizarre, even to him and he hadn’t even been there, let alone heard the full story.

“Perce, it would be easier to list the things that happened that  _ weren’t  _ weird.” Orion rolled his eyes. He looked as if he was about to say more before waving a hand and shaking his head. “Anyway, enough about the shit we’ve been getting ourselves into. We want to know about everything here and everything that happened on your Quest. We’ve barely had a chance to talk since you got back and we need some serious details. Like how in Apollo’s name did you end up with the god of love and said idiot of the sun following you around? Where even is he anyway? I thought he’d come trailing in after you like a lost puppy.”

Percy tried not to groan, knowing that Orion’s dislike of Apollo was about to become a much larger problem than it was when they had a galaxy between them. “Orion, please,” he sighed and gave his brother a pleading look. “You can throw as many darts as you want at your board but please, don’t throw them at Apollo’s face when he returns from Olympus. Let me have these few hours to explain, but he’s been a massive help, I swear.”

“That’s still not answering why he’s here.” Orion folded his arms. “Did he just bat his eyelashes at you and you let him join in the fun, no questions asked?”

“I told you myself that Nathan was a son of Gaia, and I’m sure that Beckendorf and the others have filled you in further,” Percy responded, trying not to rise to the bait. “The gods wanted someone in Camp that would be able to report directly to them about Nathan’s actions and the choice was narrowed down to Hermes or Apollo. Zeus ended up choosing for us.”

“You didn’t think to try and argue for Hermes?” Orion continued to argue with him.

“Orion.” Percy resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, keeping his expression as neutral as possible. “You weren’t my priority on Olympus. Luke was. You were away and I thought that Apollo would likely be back on Olympus by the time you joined us. I didn’t want to say I wanted Hermes on the team when I knew that it would put Luke in an awkward position of having to reconcile with his father without doing it on his own terms.”

“And Icarus?” Orion raised an eyebrow.

“What about Icarus?” Percy asked, casting a look in said Legacy’s direction. His confusion only grew when Icarus sunk slightly in his seat and refused to meet Percy’s gaze. He turned his attention back to his argument with Orion, knowing from experience that Icarus didn’t like the attention while his brother revelled in it. “Icarus wasn’t here then, either!”

He sincerely hoped that Orion wasn’t referencing the times that Icarus would duck out of the room when Apollo was mentioned and avoid all talk of him, at least before Percy had seen them interact. It was something he’d been meaning to pull Icarus aside and ask him about ever since he’d talked to Nico about his confusion when he’d found out that Icarus had offered to stay with Apollo, but they hadn’t had a moment alone since the Quest started. The fact that Icarus hadn’t had any upset with Apollo had pushed the issue from his mind, dispelling Percy’s assumptions that Icarus hated the god in the same way Orion did. He had been a little skittish and reserved around him at first, but it was the same way Icarus had acted around the rest of them until he had gotten to know them.

The Legacy had spent his formative years locked in a Labyrinth with only his father for company, the only outside interaction he had being when King Minos had made visits to the workshop to taunt them. So sue him if his socialisation skills were a little rusty, but his relationship with Apollo seemed sound.

“Orion, stop being ridiculous,” Icarus spoke up, voice soft. “How I used to react to the mention of Apollo holds no meaning now. I know that’s what you’re planning to bring up as your defence, but there’s no need.”

“You literally ran away from me when I asked your opinion of him!” Orion argued.

“Orion, please.” Icarus’ expression was pleading. “That’s not something that needs to be brought up.”

“Sure about that, Icarus?” Theseus unsurprisingly took Orion’s side. It was typical for the four of Poseidon’s sons to stand on the same side, but Percy didn’t plan to join them on this one.

“Seriously?” Bellerophon glared at their brothers, placing himself on the side of Icarus and Percy, creating a firm divide between them. “You literally just heard him say he doesn’t want to talk about it, which means we honour his wishes and drop it. It’s none of our business what his old opinion of Apollo was; the only person who presently has an issue with him is you, Orion, and it’s a grudge you’ve held for centuries.”

“Apollo is the reason I died!” Orion argued. “It’s a pretty sound reason to hold a grudge against him.”

“You are so ridiculously  _ obtuse  _ sometimes, it’s unreal,” Icarus snapped. He’d risen in his seat, pleading expression gone. Something about Orion’s words had incensed him and Percy could only watch with bated breath as anger took hold of the Legacy. “Look around the room, Orion. We all died. We all died and a lot of us died gruesome deaths. Deaths that haunt our dreams and try to creep from nightmares into reality.”

Orion watched with wide eyes as Icarus shrugged off the hoodie he was wearing, despite the summer heat. It exposed the burn pattern that danced down his arms, the shiny pink of his scars contrasting against the tan of his skin and the white of his t-shirt as it crept up beneath the short sleeves. They all knew that Icarus was self-conscious about the scarring; hating that he carried a permanent reminder of his demise on his skin.

“Look at my scars, Orion.” Icarus deliberately gestured to them, forcing Orion’s attention. “They’re a testament to my foolishness. I have to live each day with a permanent reminder that I flew too close to the sun and paid the ultimate price for it.”

Orion winced.

“I could blame Apollo if I wanted to,” Icarus continued regardless. “I could even blame Poseidon if I  _ really _ wanted to. I was burnt by the sun and fell into the arms of the sea.” He self-consciously rubbed at the scar on his left arm. “I was in too much shock, too much pain, to try and stop the waves from pulling me under. They curled around my skin and dragged me down into the depths of the ocean, away from the sky and the sun that I used to sit at the window and stare at.”

They were all silent, allowing Icarus to spill his soul in a way that he had never done before. There was horror flickering in Orion’s eyes, intermingled with regret – regret that his words had drawn this response from their friend.

“Apollo was the only person I could speak to that wasn’t my father, you know?” Icarus’ voice was hollow, a slight hint of bitterness colouring his tone as he mentioned his father who had always been a point of contention. He’d asked Percy to be truthful when he’d been brought back to life, inquiring about the fact he had never seen his father in the Underworld until rumours had started to reach Elysium that Daedalus had been sentenced to build overpasses in the Fields of Asphodel by Hades himself. He’d told him that when he asked why Perdix had died so young, his cousin had told him only that he’d had an accident and fallen from the tower - mentioning nothing to do with Daedalus’ hand in said ‘accident’. When Percy had reluctantly informed him of his experiences with the Inventor, inadvertently revealing the truth of Perdix’s death, Icarus had trembled with silent anger before exiting the room. He’d refused to speak on the matter again, saying that Daedalus was not a person he wanted to discuss anymore. “Well,” Icarus’ face twisted slightly, “I could at least pretend he was listening to me as I sat on the windowsill and spilled my soul to the sun god who probably didn’t pay attention to a word.”

“I didn’t realise.” Orion looked stricken.

“It’s not like I’ve been open about it or anything.” Icarus shrugged before continuing, voice soft. “I saw him once, flying past in his chariot. It’s why I got the idea in the first place, I realised that if anyone would be able to see me in that tower, it would be the sun god with the above perspective. It was easier to vent my frustrations when I could pretend that there was someone there to listen. That there was someone there that  _ wanted _ to listen.”

“Still, even if you never talked about it, I should have clocked that there was a reason when you fled at the mention of Apollo’s name,” Orion apologised. “I was too caught up in my own self-hatred to care.”

“Would now be an appropriate time to mention that it made me uncomfortable too?” Achilles asked, biting his lip slightly as he held himself awkwardly. “Apollo was the one who ensured Paris’s arrow flew straight; it may have reunited me with Patroclus but he still caused my death and it wasn’t something I liked to be reminded of every time you threw a dart at his likeness.”

“I used to think that one day the dart would veer off-course and pierce Achilles’ heel,” Patroclus confessed, grip on Achilles’ hand visibly tightening. “That cursing Apollo’s name would invoke the blessing he provided once and cause Achilles’ demise once again.”

“It was awkward for us as well,” Michael spoke up, gesturing to himself and Lee. “We get that our dad had a hand in your deaths, but he’s still our dad.”

There was a soft knock against the doorframe, drawing their attention to where Apollo himself was standing. His shoulders were hunched and he looked as if he wanted nothing more than to flee, to put a few thousand miles between them in a blink of an eye. There was an air of awkwardness radiating from him, regret written all over his face.

“I hate to interrupt…” Apollo broke the heavy silence that had fallen. “But it seems that I owe several of you apologies, apologies that I intended to give regardless when Percy hinted to the members of his team.” He then fixed Icarus with a gentle stare. “And an apology I should have given the second you introduced yourself.”

“Lord Apollo,” Orion greeted stiffly.

“Orion.” Apollo nodded his head. “Does my sister know of your presence yet?”

“No.” Orion’s response was short, a frown affixed to his face.

“Maybe she should,” Apollo commented absently. His attention was divided between them and the stairway. It was obvious that he wanted to venture up them, to check on Will and Nico, but he surprisingly edged further into the room. “I can ask Hermes to pass on a message, if you so wish?”

“No.” Orion’s response was short once again, voice harsh.

“Orion,” Percy couldn’t help but speak out, a note of warning in his voice. It was difficult for him to be impartial and let them settle the issue between themselves; Orion had cemented himself as one of his firmest friends over the last few years but Apollo had wormed his way into the friendship category no matter how much Percy tried to keep him at arm’s length in the ‘Olympian Annoyance’ box. Both of them held places in Percy’s heart and he hated the situation he had been thrust into, having to play mediator between the two.

“I highly doubt that she would want to hear news of me from  _ you _ .” Orion folded his arms. “How long did it take for her to look you in the eye again? How long did it take for her to even speak to you?”

Apollo was silent. Percy followed his eyes to Zoë; the former Lieutenant of the Hunt who had been at Artemis’ side for millennia, and likely privy to many of the goddess’ secrets. She gave Apollo an almost imperceptible shake of the head, Percy’s gaze going back to Apollo to see his jaw tighten slightly before he ducked his head and fixed his eyes to the floor.

“I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you the truth,” Apollo sounded resigned, seemingly accepting that Orion would try to sabotage any attempts to make amends. He looked up again, purposefully making eye contact with Achilles and Icarus. “I’ll speak to you both later if you’ll allow it?”

“Apollo, if I truly had a problem with you, I would have made it known when Percy first admitted that you were using the name Solis to hide amongst our ranks.” Achilles’ smile was surprisingly gentle. “As I said, Paris’s arrow reunited me with Patroclus. It may have been your blessing that ensured it found its mark, but Paris was the one who pulled the string and the Fates who decided it was my time to leave the battle. There is little more that needs to be said on the matter between us.”

“Still, I feel like I owe you a proper apology.” Apollo bit his lip.

“Percy seems to like you and he is usually a good judge of character,” Achilles declared and waved a hand in dismissal. “Besides, it’s all ancient history now. Quite literally. You’re likely a very different person to the one you were when we first walked the Earth.”

“Icarus?” Apollo moved on, looking as if he was expecting Icarus to reject his olive branch in the same way Orion had; as if Icarus hadn’t just spent the entire time they had been together acting as if there was nothing bothering him, even choosing to share a cabin with Apollo.

“We’ll talk,” Icarus promised with a nod. He looked a little uneasy, as if he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole, but he plastered a false smile on his face and changed the subject with ease. “Back from Olympus so soon though? Percy gave us the impression that you’d be gone until sometime in the mid-afternoon.”

“I hardly wanted to be away from Will and Nico for too long,” Apollo confirmed Percy’s suspicions. “Though I presume they’re still upstairs?”

“I’ve not seen them yet,” Percy admitted. He’d wanted to knock, wanted to stick his head around Nico’s door to confirm that he hadn’t dreamt the night before. He had wanted to confirm that he hadn’t dreamt his brother’s reunion with happiness, but he also hadn’t wanted to wake them. “I figured they’d come out when they’re ready to.”

“Will came out to me years ago,” Apollo made a half-hearted attempt at a joke before sighing. “I suppose I should leave them be.”

“Are you going to join us?” Icarus asked, gesturing to one of the few empty chairs as an invitation. “Percy was about to start explaining what has been happening here to the other half of our team, along with what happened on the Quest.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Apollo responded hastily.

“You wouldn’t be,” Percy spoke firmly. “It was just as much your Quest as it was ours.” He considered for a moment before realising that Apollo may need some further words of encouragement that he was more than happy to give, “Icarus wouldn’t have been able to navigate the Labyrinth without you; we learned that the hard way. And we would have been screwed in more ways than one if you hadn’t been there to check Thalia’s concussion and Eros’ injuries.”

Apollo hesitated for a moment later before entering the room properly and taking the empty seat at the end of the table. The screeching of chair legs against the floor followed as Orion seemed to move without warning with an expression of surprise on his face. The scratch of claws gave the game away before Sirius burst from beneath the table, giving away the fact that Orion had evidently been hiding his hound beneath his seat; despite the fact that they had a ‘No Sirius in the War Room’ rule for a reason.

Said hound was bounding towards Apollo, practically flying the final few feet before bouncing up onto his hind-legs and hitting Apollo’s chest with two large fore-paws.

Percy was on his feet in an instant, panic rushing through him as Orion let out a surprised shout. They all seemed convinced that Sirius was about to try and take a chunk out of Apollo’s face, so it was a surprise when the dog started trying to lick every inch of exposed skin, his entire body wagging.

“Oh, hi!” Apollo cooed, between licks to the face that made Percy cringe. He’d been victim to Sirius’ slobber many a time. “Hey, buddy!”

“Sirius!” Orion yelped, betrayal written all over his face when he realised that his loyal hunting dog wasn’t mauling the god as he had hoped.

“I think you’re fighting a losing battle there, Orion,” Percy couldn’t help but laugh as he sank back into his seat when he realised that there was no real danger at hand. “At least you won’t be the one needing a shower.”

“Is he always this happy to meet new people?” Apollo asked, finally having managed to persuade the dog to sit so he could stroke his head. He snapped the fingers on his free hand and the slobber vanished from his face and hair. He still wrinkled his nose slightly and shook his head, “I really am going to need to take a shower though, I know it’s gone but I can still feel it.”

“No,” Orion growled.

“No, you don’t think I should go shower?” Apollo raised an eyebrow, apparently not wanting to let the opportunity to be pedantic pass by. 

“We were talking about the Quest, right?” Percy asked before Orion could open his mouth, glaring at the pair of them so they wouldn’t continue. Apollo wasn’t even looking at him, distracted by scratching Sirius’ silky ears.

“Yes,” Icarus agreed, frantically nodding. “The Quest!”

“So what happened then?” Theseus asked, thankfully getting the message that it was time to move on. “All we know was that you were worried about having to go into the Labyrinth, which is why you kidnapped Icarus, and then Achilles and Patch told us there was another Prophecy that confirmed you’d have to venture down there.”

“We did tell them the contents of both Prophecies, but you may have to refresh everyone’s memories.” Achilles looked apologetic. “Especially when it comes to the second one; we’re not even completely certain that we got it correct. Everything seemed to happen so quickly when you left.”

“What he means is that he was distracted by looking into Patroclus’ eyes and was too proud to tell the rest of us that he only heard the latter half,” Bellerophon snorted. “Which we realised when he tried to recite the damn thing and got more of it wrong than Dionysus.”

“Give him a little more credit,” Apollo laughed. “I don’t think anyone could get it as wrong as Dionysus did. He missed out entire lines and forgot half of the words.”

“Did Dionysus think that there was a dog stuck down in Daedalus’ Maze?” Patroclus asked dryly. “Because  _ someone  _ did.”

“Hey!” Achilles complained. “Whose fault was it that I mixed my words up?”

“Don’t try and blame me!” Patroclus laughed, his expression fond. “It was all on you.”

“You know how I said I missed you all?” Luke asked, staring at the couple. “I’d like to retract that statement. I always forget how miserably single I feel around you.”

“Thou cannot blame Achilles and Patroclus for thy lack of romantic endeavours,” Zoë teased from Phoebe’s side, Orion smiling wickedly on the other. “They make all of us feel… How did thou put it? ‘Miserably single’?” 

“Some of us have more practice than most,” Luke retorted.

Zoë flicked a balled-up scrap of paper at Luke’s head, nailing him straight between the eyebrows.

“If you two are done flicking love-notes at one another, perhaps Apollo would like to recite the two Prophecies for us?” Phoebe asked innocently when Luke tried to flick the paper back, sending it wide over Zoë’s shoulder when Pheobe’s remark registered.

“Flicking what?” Luke questioned.

“I said bits of paper.” Phoebe faked confusion. “Perhaps we should get Apollo to give you and Achilles a hearing test.”

“I don’t need a hearing test!” Achilles protested. “I got a few words wrong because I was stood at a distance and people were still talking until they registered what the cloud of green smoke was. It could have happened to any of us!”

“Which Prophecy do you want to hear first?” Apollo asked, taking pity on Achilles and offering a distraction. 

“May as well go in order.” Percy shrugged, offering Apollo a soft smile. “We can provide explanations for each line as a way to explain what happened on the Quest without having to go over every minor detail.”

Apollo nodded before reciting the two Prophecies with ease.

“The latter really does make a lot more sense when you realise it’s about a god, not a dog,” Achilles mused. “Not that Prophecies  _ do  _ make sense, not until after they come to pass and even then everything is still a bit sketchy.”

“Hey!” Apollo pouted. “Not all Prophecies are mystic mumbo jumbo that you can’t interpret. Some of them are perfectly understandable!”

“You’re probably the only one in here who thinks that,” Percy teased. “Since you are the literal god of Prophecy.”

“Want me to hold your hand and tell you your future?” Apollo winked at him, expression playful. “I’ll give you a hint; I’m in it.”

Orion spluttered.

“So, your Quest!” Patroclus uttered hastily, trying to move the conversation on before Orion tried to lunge for Apollo. Percy shot him a grateful smile. “How did your Quest match up to the lines of the Prophecies?”

“ **_A soul returned to revive a love taken_ ** ,” Apollo recited once again, shrugging his shoulders. “Pretty self-explanatory, right? When we caught Nathan and Octavian, Nico returned the latter to the custody of the Fates to revive Will.”

“When did you catch them?” Beckendorf asked. “Did it take long for you to find them?”

Percy exchanged a look with Apollo, Icarus, and Luke.

“When we first went down into the Maze, we were met with a junction that led either left or right,” Icarus took the plunge and started to explain. “Thanks to my heritage, I could navigate the Maze in the same manner as my father; by following the golden markings on the floor to my destination, my destination being what I desire most. The issue we faced was that we wanted two things; to find Nathan and Octavian, and to find our missing god – Eros. Both pathways glowed, suggesting that what we wanted to find was in opposite directions.”

“After some debate, Jason pointed out that Nathan and Octavian would likely be heading to the same place.” Apollo continued for him when Icarus stopped to take a sip of water. “And arriving first would place us at an advantage, especially when we realised that they would likely be getting lost and going in circles if Nathan was testing out powers he hadn’t used properly in years.”

“We got to Eros first, dealt with the guards, and waited for them to arrive.” Luke grinned. “We didn’t have to wait long, thankfully. After they arrived, we agreed to split; Icarus, Nico, and Percy would take Octavian to the Underworld, and Apollo would transport the rest of us to the surface to wait for Leo to pick us up.”

“Why wasn’t Leo with you?” Beckendorf asked, curiosity colouring his tone. “And how come he was whisked off to the Infirmary with Eros?” 

“Oh man,” Icarus winced. “We’ll get to that when we explain a later line of the Prophecy.”

“Alright,” Beckendorf agreed, though he seemed slightly reluctant to accept the answer. “So what did ‘ **_Within the Maze’s depths of darkness, the lover's voice will reawaken.’_ ** mean then?”

They all exchanged a look at, trying to confer between themselves before giving up and turning to Apollo.

“It’s talking about, Eros, right?” Percy asked him, unsure.

“I thought that too,” Apollo admitted, nodding along before launching into an explanation. “Well, that was my assumption until I gave it a little bit of thought. Obviously, the first line refers to Will as Nico’s ‘love’ that will be revived, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to assume that it’s talking about Will again.”

“Oh!” It clicked with Percy. “Do you think it means when Nico woke up after Will visited?”

“As entertaining as it is to watch the two of you gaze adoringly at each other as you try and solve the Prophecy clues, the rest of us need some context,” Achilles informed them dryly.

“You can’t talk, you were too busy gazing adoringly at Patroclus to hear the Prophecy about Eros,” Luke retorted, taking it upon himself to unnecessarily defend Percy and Apollo with a wink in their direction.

There were times when Percy didn’t understand what went on in his Lieutenant’s head. 

This was one of them.

“What do you mean, Will visited?” Lee asked, mirroring Michael’s look of confusion and interrupting before anything more could be said. “You still haven’t explained what happened last night to us yet! We’ve been very patient about the fact our baby brother has apparently been resurrected from the dead, we’ve not even crashed Nico’s room yet, but by the gods will we start casuing chaos if we don’t get some answers soon.”

Percy and Apollo exchanged looks of regret before launching into further explanations.

It wasn’t long after they’d finished running through their explanations for each line of the Prophecy and their explanations about the events of their trip below the surface, followed by a chat about Nathan’s associates and what had been occurring in Camp, that Percy’s eyes slid to the clock that was mounted on the wall and he realised with a shock that it was well past midday.

He’d wanted to tackle the issue of Nathan’s hidden presence on the  _ Argo II.V _ long before the sun reached its peak.

“Styx,” He couldn’t help but swear, panicking slightly over his new predicament. “I wanted to interrogate Nathan hours ago.”

They’d been so caught up in the events of their Quest and the activities of those left behind that he had completely lost track of time, not even realising that they had been talking for a few hours. 

Apollo made a mournful noise, eyeing the ceiling above them with displeasure. “Would it be terrible for me to go and check on Will and Nico?”

“They’ll be down soon, no doubt,” Percy tried to offer an alternative, hoping for Nico’s sake that his words were true. It was obvious to him that Apollo couldn’t cope with the separation from his son for much longer, even if Nico was the cause. He doubted that Nico would want Apollo trampling into the room, whether they were asleep or not, complaining about the need for separate beds and chaperones to be present at all times. “They were probably up late talking – we didn’t manage to get to bed until the early hours after all – and they probably had a lot to catch up on.”

“Maybe I could leave them be a little longer,” Apollo’s words were reluctant, but he seemed somewhat mollified.

Percy was torn for a moment, knowing that he needed to get a move on and head for the  _ Argo II.V _ , but it would involve having to leave Apollo in a room with at least one demigod who wanted to murder him. He knew that Apollo would be fine taking chances, but Percy couldn’t afford to take a chance on his sanity.

“Come and interrogate Nathan with me,” Percy tried to sound light-hearted with his suggestion. Internally, he was screaming the word ‘please’.

“What do you want the rest of us to do?” Luke asked, folding his arms. “We can’t all crowd in to listen to you ask Nathan questions he’ll try and skirt around.”

“While Apollo and I tackle Nathan, could the rest of you make sure that none of Nathan’s associates make a run for it?” Percy requested. “Beckendorf, Achilles, Patroclus; if you could lead? Luke, could you coordinate a Head Counsellor’s Meeting in the meantime?”

“What about Tanner?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to speak to him too?”

Percy’s eyes widened as he remembered about the Son of Aphrodite being kept in the cellar of the Big House. He’d mostly forgotten about his presence, caught up in the aftermath of arriving back in Camp and the events of the night.

“You know what…” He couldn’t keep the slightly wicked smile off his face. “I’m going to leave what will happen with Tanner for Nico and Will to decide.”

Five minutes later and Apollo was following him over to the  _ Argo II.V _ .

“You only asked me to come with you as a distraction tactic, didn’t you?” Apollo asked as they walked, letting out a sigh.

“Do you want me to answer that honestly?” Percy didn’t break step, simply continuing forward. “Or do you want me to lie?”

“I thought so,” Apollo sighed again. “It doesn’t feel real yet, you know?”

“What doesn’t?” Percy asked, despite knowing full well what Apollo was talking about.

“Will being here, being  _ alive, _ ” Apollo admitted. “When you came back without him, it seemed like everything was over; that was it, I’d never see my son alive again. And then last night, I was sat talking to Eros about the unfairness of it all and you came running in to tell me otherwise. I was worried that I was imagining things, that perhaps I had fallen and hit my head on the way to the Infirmary and it was some bizarre fever dream.”

“As soon as we have Nathan’s friends under watch and we know that none of them will be able to inform Gaia that our Quest succeeded, you’ll be able to spend as much time as you want with Will. And his siblings. I don’t doubt for a second that there will be a mass reunion between Will, Lee, Michael, and the rest of their Cabin,” Percy comforted. “Nobody will bat an eyelid over your presence, it’ll be expected.”

“Kayla is going to try and foist the title of Head Counsellor back onto him the minute she processes his resurrection.” Apollo couldn’t help but smile, a welcome change to the troubled expression that had been a near-permanent feature all morning. “Between the kids and Nico, he’s not going to be left alone for a minute.”

“You missed yourself off that list,” Percy laughed.

“I figured it didn’t even need to be said.” Apollo shrugged, unapologetic. “He’s going to be sick of the sight of me.”

“I think he’ll have missed you just as much as you’ve missed him.” Percy shook his head. “He seemed really worried about the possibility of you blaming yourself when Nico accidentally summoned him. I really did mean to try and get you alone to speak to you about it, but I didn’t get the chance. Not with how suddenly things seemed to happen once we were reunited.”

“Any excuse to get me alone,” Apollo fed him one of his usual lines, though it seemed half-hearted at best. He sighed and shook his head. “We both know that I would have tried to talk my way out of that conversation at all costs.”

“I know.” Percy grimaced. After witnessing Apollo’s reaction to the attempt of a conversation the night previous, he was now well aware that the god would have vacated the Labyrinth once more – or something equally drastic – if he had attempted to corner him down there.

“Shall we get this over with?” Apollo gestured to the  _ Argo II.V _ , now only a few steps away from them. They’d dawdled on their short walk there, dragging it out far longer than necessary.

Percy could only nod in assent.

“I was beginning to think that you’d forgotten about me.” Nathan glared at them the instant they stepped inside the Pegasus stables that they had repurposed for their return journey. The son of Gaia was sat on the floor - ignoring the perfectly comfortable bed that they’d dragged from the cabins for him to use - with his arms folded, bronze manacles gleaming around his wrists. “Where did you take Tanner?”

Apollo let out a low whistle. “Not going to ask about the boy you committed murder for? Interesting priorities there, Nathaniel.”

Nathan’s scowl deepened and he rolled his eyes. “I know Tavy is fine. di Angelo is all talk, he’s too soft to have actually gone through with returning him to the Underworld. You just separated us to scare me.”

Part of Percy couldn’t help but feel sorry for Nathan.

However, a larger part of Percy was simply stunned.

“I think you underestimate what Nico di Angelo could and  _ would  _ do for Will Solace,” Apollo warned, tone dark. “You also underestimate what his siblings and his father would do with the knowledge that you sacrificed a person they loved for your own selfish gain.”

“You think I fear Apollo?” Nathan scoffed. “The gods rarely pay attention to their own; Apollo included. He makes a whole song and dance about showing up to whisk di Angelo away for weekends here and there but I doubt he really remembers the reason why. I give it a few more months before he forgets that he has any obligation to di Angelo and he’ll drop the boy, just like Jackson did.”

It was like watching a train wreck and Percy couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away or interrupt; content to watch as Nathan continued to dig his own grave, completely unaware that it was Apollo before him.

“Oh Nathaniel,” Apollo sounded  _ dangerous _ . “I think you seriously need to re-evaluate your opinions before you end up saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. You do not fear Apollo? You forget some of his actions; he shot the seven sons of Niobe because she insulted his mother, the god of the West Wind became forever indebted to Eros in order to avoid Apollo’s wrath over the death of Hyacinthus, he killed one of the Cyclops who crafted Zeus’ Master Bolt as recompense for the death of Asclepius. Do you understand where I am heading with this list?”

Nathan was pale and speechless. “No,” he whispered as he shook his head.

“The fate of those who hurt Apollo’s loved ones is a fate that may befall you if you do not watch your words,” Apollo warned. “Love may be a foreign concept to you, but he truly does love his children.”

“Octavian is one of his line, would he truly exchange one of his line for another?” Nathan asked defensively. “It would make him no better than me.”

“At least you’re aware that you committed a wrong,” Apollo sniffed derisively. “You forget though that Apollo works closely with the Fates, he issues their Prophecies of death and foretells the fortune of many a demigod. It was Octavian’s time years ago – he would simply be righting your wrong. Though you are once again underestimating Nico di Angelo if you think the decision would ever go as far as Apollo.”

“I know di Angelo!” Nathan protested, as if he was trying to reassure himself. “He wouldn’t trade one life for another.”

“Are you sure about that?” Percy asked.

“He was bluffing in the Labyrinth.” Nathan shook his head. “He had to be.”

“Speaking of the Labyrinth; why Eros?” Apollo seized the opportunity to turn the conversation towards finding answers, evidently fed up of going in circles.

“What?” Nathan seemed visibly stunned by the change in topic.

“Eros,” Apollo repeated the name of his fellow god. “Why did Gaia choose to kidnap Eros? Why not Thanatos again? Or another deity? Why the god of Love?”

“My mother wanted to manipulate people into falling in love with my friends, people we thought we could lure onto our side with the right persuasion,” Nathan confessed, evidently having no reason to keep the information to himself. “She saw what I had Drew do to Annabeth and figured she could replicate it on a larger and more successful scale. Charmspeak wears off, no matter how many times it is used for the same purpose, having a god change someone’s actual emotions doesn’t.”

Percy’s stomach turned at Nathan’s admission, the blood in his veins running cold. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask a question, but nothing came out. Apollo discreetly moved closer to him; pressing their arms together from shoulder to elbow, a gentle gesture of comfort in lieu of an obvious one that Nathan would notice.

“Did she ever execute the plan?” Apollo asked, thankfully continuing to take the lead on questioning the son of Gaia. Percy couldn’t help but feel a shocked sense of relief that he had asked Apollo to come along, not knowing how he would handle such a revelation alone. He’d heard it from Tanner in the Labyrinth but he hadn’t given it much thought then, convinced that the son of Aphrodite had just been saying it to mess with them. He wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, wanted to flee and process what Nathan had just unwittingly revealed to him. He also knew that he needed to find the time to speak to Annabeth.

“No.” Nathan scowled again. “She wanted to wait, wanted to see if the little love god would break and acquiesce to our demands. Tavy and I were supposed to be escorting him to see her, to ask him a final time whether or not he would join our cause.”

“And what would be the response to his negative?” Apollo pressed.

“To throw him into the darkest depths of Tartarus and keep him there until we won the war so he couldn’t warn you.” Nathan’s lips curled into a wicked smile, obviously delighted by the concept of making Eros suffer.

“If that was the case, why are you telling us?” Percy asked, finding his words. They were laced with suspicion, incapable of trusting a word that fell from the boy’s mouth.

“Contrary to popular belief, I have a brain,” Nathan sniffed. Then his mask broke and he looked at them with open terror in his eyes. “I know that I’m lying to myself when I say that di Angelo is too soft to inflict the same fate I gave Solace onto Octavian, I know that you’ve probably already been into the Underworld and traded one life for another. I just don’t want to believe that Tavy is gone again, that he was ripped away so suddenly. Each day we were together, I couldn’t help but fear he would be taken away from me. Then that day came to pass and I didn’t even get to say goodbye properly. But di Angelo said he’d talk to Hades and I know that all I can do to convince you to speak in my favour is to give you information. I’d do anything to get Tavy back; what I did the first time around proves that.”

“So you’ll answer all of our questions?” Percy asked, tone still suspicious. He still couldn’t bring himself to trust Nathan, despite the show of honesty from the boy who had once posed as his brother. 

“To an extent, I can try to.” Nathan nodded. He looked relieved, tension melting from his shoulders. “Promise you’ll put a good word in with di Angelo for me?”

“I won’t make an Oath on the Styx if that’s what you want to hear,” Percy laughed hollowly.

“I wouldn’t ask you to.” Nathan winced and shook his head. “I’ve learnt my lesson about improper usage.”

“Answer our questions and we’ll speak to Nico.” Apollo nodded, pressing a little closer to Percy. “We’ll try and make this as quick as possible.”

Nathan nodded so vigorously, Percy thought his head would fall off.

  
  



	56. Blondes - Percy Jackson's True Achilles' Heel.

The minute they stepped back onto solid ground, Icarus practically materialised before them, skidding to a halt.

“Thank the gods!” He let out a relieved gasp before attempting to catch his breath.

“Hey, where’s the fire?” Apollo asked, clear concern on his face. “Are you okay?”

“Heros sent me to find you, Chiron and the Counsellors are insisting we hold the meeting now.” Icarus winced. “Apparently they’ve been clamouring outside the Cabin all morning, wanting to ask questions about the Quest, Nathan, Eros, Will. The minute Luke proposed a meeting, they demanded it be as soon as possible. They’ve already started to invade the War Room, I got sent to find you while Ares’ terrifying daughter went to round up their missing Counsellors.”

Percy grimaced, knowing there was no way out of this one. He’d have to sit and attend the meeting when all he wanted was a few hours alone; time to process the meeting with Nathan, time to process his admission that Annabeth truly was manipulated into turning against him.

He couldn’t quite understand it though, left wondering why she had seemed so out of character when his identity was revealed in the depths of the Labyrinth – why she had acted so bizarrely in regard to the questions she had asked. Percy had known that she would never have greeted him with open arms, not after the way in which he had departed, but he’d expected something a little different to accusatory questions and insinuations that everything would have worked itself out if he had chosen to stay.

“Percy?” Apollo questioned softly, keeping his voice low out of consideration of the fact they were outside the walls of the Chaos Cabin and Percy’s identity was not yet known.

“Sorry,” Percy sighed, shaking his head in an attempt to banish the thoughts from his mind. “I had hoped that we’d have more time to process our talk with Nathan before we had to face even more questions.”

“I can stall if you want me too?” Icarus offered. “I could say that you’re still talking to Nathan or you want to head to the Big House and confirm parts of Nathan’s story with Tanner?”

“I think it would be best if we just got it over with,” Percy decided, though it wasn’t an easy thing to say. “Better sooner than later.”

As soon as they entered the room, he regretted his decision.

The room was awash with noise; raised voices and loud arguments almost deafening as everyone attempted to shout over the other in order to be heard. Some people were silent spectators, sitting on the edges of the room and watching the carnage, while the majority were standing, chairs forgotten in favour of standing and yelling at one another.

Apollo let out a low whistle and leaned in close so Percy could hear him. “Think we could make a run for it before they notice us?”

“I wish,” Percy huffed. He knew they had no chance of escape, resigning himself to their fate. He debated what to do for a moment, wondered how on earth he was supposed to get everyone’s attention. Several ideas floated through his mind, each more drastic and ridiculous than the last, but he didn’t move to execute any of them. He just stood there, waiting.

“-ck are we supposed to just sit around and wait for Blue to turn up before you all start talking?” Clarisse was mid yell, volume going up to drown out the person who had been speaking moments prior. “Surely you don’t need him here to at least start telling us what in my father’s name happened on the Quest?”

“You said it yourself, you wanted answers from Blue!” Luke defended himself. “I’m not Blue, therefore I am absolutely not qualified to answer for him.”

“You sent Icarus off to find him nearly half an hour ago, did you tell him to stall on purpose?” Annabeth asked, seemingly on the side of the Counsellors.

“I only stalled for a bit, okay?” Icarus hissed when Percy gave him a pointed look.

“I didn’t tell him to stall at all, you were literally there when I told him to be as quick as possible!” Luke rolled his eyes.

“He has a point, Annie. We did all hear him tell Icarus to hurry,” Thalia agreed, nodding along. 

“How do we know you’ve not got some weird secret code though?” Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “You’ve all got codenames, a coded message isn’t out of the realms of possibility.”

“Ah yes, because ‘Blue and Solis need to be here immediately, find them as quickly as you can’ is really easy to fit a coded message into.” Luke rolled his eyes. “You think I  _ want _ to be stuck arguing with you while we wait?”

“We can still make a run for it,” Apollo muttered softly. “Say the word, Seashell.”

“HEY!” Percy yelled loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“ _ Not that word _ ,” Apollo groaned.

“Lay off Luke would you?” Percy ignored him, trying to stop himself from smiling as he addressed the room at large. “We were busy with Nathan, Icarus had to wait until we were done before he could even tell us that you wanted to hold the meeting now.”

“Oh thank Zeus’ beardy bits, you’re here,” Luke breathed a sigh of relief. “I was beginning to think we’d have to either send out a search party or send Icarus to therapy for whatever he accidentally witnessed.”

“Why am I friends with you?” Percy asked, shaking his head. He weaved his way through some of the standing crowd to reach one of the two empty seats between Luke and Nico, the latter giving him a happy smile, hand intertwined with Will’s. Apollo followed him while Icarus made a beeline for the spot opposite them, the rest of the room beginning to sit down and quiet as they realised Percy had no intentions of starting any discussion until they calmed.

“Are we finally going to get down to business then?” Clarisse was the one who broke the uneasy quiet that had settled, impatience on her face. “Or are you going to ignore your promises to start talking upon Blue’s arrival and dance around the conversation again like you all did at the Campfire last night?”

“Some of us have new questions to ask because of last night,” Kayla spoke next, her eyes fixed on Will.

“We’re going to try and answer as many of your questions as we possibly can,” Percy spoke in gentle tones, trying to be as diplomatic as possible while tempers flared. “A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours alone, and we know that we also need to fill you in on the details of the Quest. I can only apologise for the delay and ask where you want to start.”

“I think we should address the elephant in the room first, Blue,” Will spoke up, voice gentle. It was clear from the reactions of others in the room that it was perhaps the first time he had spoken. Or, at the very least, they were not used to hearing his voice. “The elephant being me.”

“I agree with Will,” Kayla declared, gaze not wavering an inch. Her voice, however, wavered. “Especially since we all thought that Will wasn’t going to be coming back when you returned without him.”

“We thought the same,” Nico admitted, incapable of tearing his eyes away from Will’s profile.

Percy could see the look on Will’s face when the son of Apollo turned ever so slightly so he could meet Nico’s eyes and he felt as though he was intruding on a private moment.

“I didn’t know I could come back,” Will admitted, obviously continuing Nico’s point for Kayla’s benefit but not bothering to look away from the person he was trying to reassure the most. “Until a few days ago, I thought my soul was going to remain in the custody of The Fates for eternity.”

“How come you didn’t come back with them though?” Kayla asked, upset in her voice. “How come you only came back last night and how come you came back in the way that you did?”

Will tore his eyes away from Nico in order to look at his distraught sister, looking around the room when he heard the murmurs of confusion that all agreed with Kayla.

“Honestly?” Will winced. “I don’t think I’m the most qualified person to tell you that. I’m confused about the circumstances myself.”

“Then who is the most qualified person?” Kayla asked. She turned her attention to Percy and Apollo, expression pleading. “What happened on the Quest?”

After their explanations finished for the second time that day, the room settled into silence. Nico’s arm had migrated to around Will’s shoulders, Will holding the hand that settled on his bicep, the two sat as close as physically possible. Percy knew that Nico had probably given him a brief rundown of what had happened but had no doubts that it wasn’t as detailed as the account that they had just provided the Counsellors with.

“So they didn’t even tell you that they were going to let Will return?” Kayla finally asked, sounding horrified as she stared at Nico. 

“They didn’t even tell me they were going to let Will return,” Nico confirmed, nodding his head. Will’s hand visibly tightened slightly.

“They just faded away and left us,” Percy echoed.

“I was glad that they made me stand outside... until Nico and Blue walked out without Will,” Icarus added. “When I first met Nico, it felt like déjà vu because I’d heard so much about him from-” Icarus paused, seemingly realising what he was about to say before swiftly adjusting “-from other members of the team. Seeing him so devastated was a direct contrast to the stories I had heard – especially the ones that Bianca told me.”

“Styx,” Nico swore suddenly, gaze going to where his sister was sat shoulder to shoulder with Zoë and Thalia, eyebrows raised at him.

“Little brother,” Bianca’s smile was terrifying. “I’ve been waiting for you to realise that you need to introduce me to Will.”

“Gods above,” Nico whispered before giving her a sheepish smile and raising his voice. “Later, I promise?”

“I have pictures of him from before we came to Camp,” Bianca aimed at Will. “I’ll show you them.”

“How much do I have to bribe you to show me too?” Apollo asked, voice gleeful.

“We need to speak about Sunshine too,” Clarisse deadpanned, gesturing to said god. “I can’t be the only one who noticed the way he disappeared for part of the story, right?”

“Why is it always you who notices the details?” Percy groaned. “I thought we’d managed to get away with that minor detail without anyone noticing.”

“No dice, Punk.” Clarisse shook her head. “So, where did Sunshine go and how did he manage to find you again?”

“I think the question we need to be asking is who is he?” Chris added from beside her, looking at Apollo with scepticism. “Something doesn’t add up about him.”

“You don’t say,” Nico muttered.

“What was that, di Angelo?” Clarisse raised an eyebrow. “Aside from Blue, Sunshine has been your new favourite person. Is it just a coincidence that he acts like the other ray of sunshine that follows you around like a lost puppy?”

“I feel like I should play stupid and ask you to explain what you mean,” Apollo sighed. “Alas though, I am not my half-brother and acting stupid does not come easily.”

Percy had to resist the urge to allow his head to connect with the tabletop.

“That’s a lie,” Nico muttered under his breath.

Percy, once again, had to resist the urge to allow his head to connect with the tabletop.

“Scratch that,” Clarisse sounded amused. “ _Is_ _he_ the other ray of sunshine that likes to follow you around?”

Apollo sighed once more, this one more dramatic and falsified than the last, before pushing the hood of his cloak down. He set the mask down on the table and gave the room a sunny smile before starting to fuss over the state of his hair. “Blue, I don’t know why I had to wear a cloak when I was just going to have to show my face today. My hair is-”

“Your hair looks fine,” Percy assured him, knowing it would stop the god from going off on a tangent of complaints. “Stop panicking and speak to the room of demigods who are staring at you.”

“Oh, I do hate being the centre of attention.” Apollo ducked his gaze, pretending to be modest.

“Well that’s a lie,” Luke muttered under his breath.

Unlike Nico, Luke was sitting beside him. 

Percy jabbed Luke in the side with his elbow.

“Dad?” Kayla was the one who asked the all-important question, tilting her head as her eyes widened with recognition.

“ _ Dad _ ?” Lou Ellen repeated the words of Apollo’s daughter, sounding stunned.

“Y’know, I didn’t think that there was any way you could surprise me anymore, Punk,” Clarisse declared, making eye contact with him. She then gestured to Apollo. “But then you take a literal god on a quest with you?”

“In my defence, it wasn’t my idea,” Percy defended himself before having to reconsider. It was Athena who suggested Apollo accompany them to Camp, but it was Percy’s idea to take the god on the Quest with them. “Well… It may have somewhat been my idea.”

“It was absolutely your idea, Seashell, you couldn’t resist my charms,” Apollo teased before turning his attention back to the rest of the room. “It was a good thing I went along actually, Blue had to neglect mentioning the true reasoning behind some of the issues we had in the Labyrinth, but I suppose we can be a little more open now you know that I was along for the ride.”

“Which issues are we talking about?” Chris asked.

“Well, there was-” Percy began to speak before realising that Clarisse was staring at him with an indecipherable expression on her face. “Clarisse? Are you okay?”

“Sorry, I just can’t quite get over the fact you took a god on a Quest.” Clarisse shook her head. “Not even a minor god as well, you took  _ Apollo _ ?”

“Athena gave them very little room for argument when she suggested that one of our number joined Blue’s ranks.” Apollo shrugged. “And he figured that taking as big a group as we did along would attract every monster in the northern hemisphere, so why not throw in some godly protection?”

“You make a fair argument,” Clarisse acquiesced. “So, Sunshine, how did your presence aid them?”

After they’d repeated the major details of their Quest, this time being truthful about how Apollo’s absence had impacted Icarus’ ability to navigate, the room was silent.

“Well,” Clarisse broke said silence. “Seems like it’s a good thing you decided to take the little sun spot along with you. Do you know why his presence had such an impact on Icarus?”

“Despite living in a tower in the centre of the Labyrinth for the majority of my teenage years, I only tested my navigation skills out a few times,” Icarus was the one who responded, slightly troubled look on his face. “And they worked like a charm. So my struggle this time around has weighed on me quite heavily; I couldn’t quite figure out the reasoning until I was given the opportunity to actually sit and think about it upon our return to Camp.”

“It has been troubling me too,” Apollo confessed. “And I’m curious about whether or not it was my presence specifically that aided, or if the presence of any god would aid your ability to navigate.”

“You’re not helping me here, Apollo, you’re just giving me more to think about,” Icarus groaned. 

“My apologies.” Apollo winced. “What was your theory?”

“I wasn’t taking into account that the iteration of the Labyrinth we descended into was not the same iteration my father built, the original version of the Labyrinth that I learned to navigate,” Icarus explained. “Taking that into account, the version we had to traverse would have been darker in comparison – requiring a literal source of light to guide us. I’ve got a feeling that the fact I spent quite some time in the Underworld didn’t help matters.”

“So you’re saying that Sunshine was more of a glowstick?” Clarisse quirked an eyebrow, unable to keep the smirk off her face. “If we break him in the middle, will he emit a neon glow?”

“I prefer to have my spine intact and unsnapped, thanks Clarisse,” Apollo responded mildly, looking slightly afraid of the daughter of Ares. “If you want me to start glowing, it can be arranged with no breaking of bones.”

“All we can do is speculate,” Annabeth pointed out hastily, clearly wanting to move on. “I don’t think we’ll ever uncover the real reason why.”

“If Icarus needed Apollo with him, then how did Nathan and Octavian navigate the Maze?” Kayla asked.

“Nathan’s powers over earth gave him an instant advantage,” Percy sighed. “From what he told us, he knew the coordinates of the site where Eros was being held and used his powers to lead them through the Maze towards him.”

“From what he told you?” Clarisse narrowed her eyes.

“He’s on the  _ Argo II.V, _ ” Leo piped up, shuddering at the thought. “That’s why my baby is hovering above the strawberry fields, removing his contact with the earth. You knew that though, right?”

“I wasn’t sure whether or not Chiron had told you all,” Percy admitted, grimacing at the Councillors as he saw the shocked expressions on their faces. “And judging by the looks on your faces, the answer is he neglected to mention it.”

“Nathan is in Camp?” Chris asked.

“Where did you think Apollo and I were?” Percy asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. “That’s why you had to wait so long for us to arrive; we were questioning him, it’s literally the next topic I wanted to discuss.”

Some of the Councillors exchanged amused glances while several of his team started snickering.

Percy sighed. “What did Luke actually tell you?”

“Hey!” Luke protested. “Why do you immediately assume that it was me who said something?”

“It’s  _ always  _ you,” Percy pointed out.

“Lies and slander,” Luke hissed at him.

“Castellan insinuated that you and Glowstick were off swapping saliva,” Clarisse informed him, a wicked smile on her face. “And then he joked about sending Icarus to therapy when you finally showed up, so we all figured that there could be an element of truth.”

“You’ve just found out that he’s a literal god, do you seriously think that-”

“Seashell, you can’t use that excuse,” Apollo practically sang. “You know how I feel about your pretty face.”

Percy was very glad that the rest of the room couldn’t see his face, knowing full well that there was a blush staining his cheeks.

“You’re not helping our case here,” Percy informed him, trying to sound stern. He completely failed. He sounded  _ fond _ . “And I really think we should get back to Clarisse’s queries about Nathan’s presence in Camp. Since that was the whole point of this meeting – even if half of the party was unaware of that fact.”

“Someone sounds defensive.” Clarisse’s mouth curled up into a wicked grin.

“ _ Someone  _ is just  _ trying _ to get this all over with,” Percy responded with a sigh. “I had to spend far too long in close proximity to Nathan before; I want to take a shower and burn these clothes.”

“We’re best humouring him and moving the conversation along,” Luke warned them. “He’ll start whining otherwise, and that’s never pretty.”

“Fine,” Chris laughed. “We’ll take your word for it. Let’s talk about Nathan.”

“Honestly, it didn’t really cross my mind when you said that you split and took Octavian with you,” Kayla admitted. “I was far more focused on your trip to the Underworld. Maybe I thought you’d left him locked in Eros’ cell or something?”

“Believe me,” Eros himself responded from where he was stood leaning against the doorframe. “I tried to argue for that outcome.” 

Percy narrowed his eyes at the god, trying to figure out if his eyes had actually changed from green to blue, or if it was just a trick of the light. While he was still pale, there was some colour in his cheeks and there were no blatant indicators of pain in his stance, seemingly relaxed and casual.

“Lovebug!” Apollo greeted happily from beside him. “How are you feeling?”

“I suppose I’ll live,” Eros sniffed, eyeing the room with a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

“We need to speak about  _ him  _ too,” Clarisse warned, nodding her head at Eros.

“I think quite a few of your questions about Eros will be answered by what we have to say about Nathan,” Apollo informed her.

“Did you go and speak to the little brat then?” Eros asked as he pushed off from the doorframe and sauntered into the room. He slipped into one of the few empty chairs that had been brought into the room when they’d presumably overestimated how many would be attending. “I wanted to have words with him.”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities to go and speak to him yourself,” Apollo assured him. He paused for a second before hastily rescinding said suggestion. “Well, perhaps you could pop down to have a word with me or Bluebell at some point. Just so you don’t murder him.”

“I thought you wanted to murder him?” Eros frowned.

“Oh, I do.” Apollo nodded his head, tone completely casual. “But unfortunately, we need the little traitor while he’s still spilling the other side’s secrets.”

“He’s actually spilling secrets?” Clarisse perked up, looking fascinated. The rest of the room seemed to lean in, all with looks of interest on their faces.

“We have a bargaining chip, in a sense,” Percy admitted, gesturing to Nico. “He thinks that if he co-operates, Nico will be more inclined to speak to Hades on his behalf.”

“About what?” Kayla asked, clearly confused.

Nico sighed, raking a hand down his face. “I knew this would come back to haunt me.”

“Who, me?” Will teased softly.

Nico gave him a fond smile before shaking his head. “I would never complain about you. Nathan on the other hand…”

“So what does he mean by a bargaining chip?” Kayla asked, interrupting them. Her gaze was warm, eyes filled with humour and delight. “It’s so good to see you two together again.”

“It’s good to be together again,” Will responded. “But Nico is going to have to be the one to answer the question.”

“I was getting there!” Nico promised. “I was just distracted.”

“Something tells me that this is going to be a common occurrence,” Lou Ellen teased.

“Blue is referring to the fact that I told Nathan that I’d speak to my father on his behalf if he gave us useful information,” Nico sighed. “On the condition I got Will back. After what happened in the Cave of the Fates, I wasn’t going to. I had very little intention of going through with it in the first place, but not getting Will back there and then stopped me completely.”

“So Nathan  _ is  _ willing to give information?” Annabeth asked.  She looked a little surprised, as if she had expected him to refuse to cooperate. Percy had, in all fairness, thought the same thing.

“After trying to talk Styx about Apollo to Apollo’s face, he started spilling secrets.” Percy confirmed. “He said he knew Nico well enough to know that he would have gone through with the trade, no matter how he wished otherwise, and he also said that he would do anything to get Octavian back; even if that meant betraying his mother and providing us with information, something he reaffirmed multiple times throughout our conversation. He admitted that his mother used to threaten to have Octavian hauled before the Council and returned to the Underworld if he didn’t cooperate with some of the more sinister plans that he himself said he wanted no part in.”

“While it was an excuse he used several times, he also admitted to following her on his own volition the majority of the time,” Apollo picked up where he left off. “So, obviously, incidents like Will’s demise prove that he can’t be dismissed as an innocent in Gaia’s schemes.”

“He tried to make us aware, multiple times, that resurrecting Octavian was something he did of his own accord, conflicting with Gaia’s wishes. He told us that she had bargained with him many a time over bringing Octavian back but never fulfilled his wishes, no matter what task he completed for her,” Percy sighed. “After Will’s death, he used Gaia’s distraction over Eros to his advantage and kept the fact Octavian was alive a secret for around six months. It was only when Gaia tried to use Octavian’s life as a bargaining tool once more that one of Nathan’s associates let slip what Nathan had done when questioned about Nathan’s unusual lack of response to the offer.”

“So he was all for confessing to murdering me if it meant you believed him when he said his mother coerced him the rest of the time?” Will asked, hurt colouring his tone.

“Don’t worry kiddo, we’re well aware that we can’t trust a word that leaves his lips,” Apollo assured him. “We just figured it was easier to humour him and milk him for all that he’s worth because amongst all of the bullshit, there’s probably some information that’s vaguely accurate.”

“Did he spill anything that could be useful?” Clarisse asked.

Percy and Apollo exchanged a look, not knowing how much either of them wanted to disclose. They hadn’t exactly had time to discuss what Nathan had told them before Icarus had arrived and swept them away to the meeting and neither of them wanted to give the room cause for concern before they could independently verify Nathan’s information.

“He made some loose assertions about his mother’s plan to attack camp, but realistically, we know that those plans will change the minute Gaia realises that we have rescued Eros and have her son in custody,” Apollo explained diplomatically. Percy wanted to breathe a sigh of relief; apparently they were using the same brain cell and by the gods he couldn’t help but be grateful that it was Apollo he took to speak to Nathan, not one of the others. “So while we can use his information as a base, it’s pointless to believe in it unless we have firm proof from another source.”

“So you’re basically saying that we have nothing?” Annabeth groaned.

She wasn’t the only one with a look of disappointment on her face.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that we have  _ nothing _ .” Apollo shook his head. “We just don’t have a  _ lot. _ ”

However, before Apollo and Percy could start to try and talk in circles about what they did have without actually naming what they had, the conch shell signalling dinnertime blew.

“Well, I guess that settles it,” Clarisse sighed. “We knew just as much about Nathan’s plans as we did when we started this meeting.”

“Which is nothing,” Chris declared, finishing his girlfriend’s trajectory.

Percy and Apollo exchanged another look and allowed the room to filter out without protest. They both stood and slowly followed the crowd, not wanting to get swept up in the midst of the group and forced to answer awkward questions.

“Blue?”

Percy wished he’d allowed himself to be swept into the middle of the group.

Instead he turned around and met the person’s gaze. “Annabeth?”

She eyed the last few occupants of the room with uncertainty before turning the same look on him, giving him the barest hint of a smile.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Apollo muttered softly, barely audible. If he were one of the others, Percy would have given him an elbow to the ribs. With Apollo, however, Percy thought his elbow would come off worse in the incident.

“Everything okay?” Percy asked, aiming for friendly concern. He wasn’t too sure if he managed it very well.

“I was wondering if we could maybe talk?” Annabeth asked.

“Someone  _ is  _ in trouble,” Apollo repeated.

Percy knew that he only had one real option here and he really didn’t like it; he was going to have to agree to her request, and he was actually going to have to talk to her. After speaking to Nathan, he didn’t know when he’d actually get the opportunity to speak to her again. Not with the probable events of the next few days.

He wanted at least one thing resolved before Gaia arrived.

“Sure.” Percy nodded his head. “Okay, yeah, let’s talk,” he paused for a second to consider. “When?”

Annabeth looked stunned, as if she hadn’t expected him to agree so easily. Her shoulders relaxed and she closed her slightly parted lips; as if she had expected to have to deliver an argument as to why he should give her the time of day, not have him agree to a singular request.

“After dinner?” Annabeth suggested.

Percy considered for a second, knowing that she’d probably herd him to a location that she’d feel more comfortable in. He sighed, knowing the alternative would leave him answering a lot of awkward questions from his teammates. Especially those who had actually seen him and Annabeth in a relationship.

“Sure, after dinner,” Percy agreed. “We can come back and talk here.”

“Catch you after dinner then.” Annabeth nodded before turning on her heel and following some of the stragglers. 

Percy stood stock still for a moment, a little too shocked to follow.

“Congrats, Percy.” Apollo clapped him on the shoulder. His smile didn’t properly reach his eyes. “I hope you get everything you want out of that conversation. I’ve got to pop back up to speak to the Council about what Nathan told us, mind keeping an eye on the kids and Eros for me? I’ll probably be back in the morning with a few of them in tow.”

The god ducked out of the room before Percy even managed to process half of what he had said, reeling from how much Apollo had managed to cram into a short goodbye. If it could have even been classed as a goodbye. He honestly wasn’t too sure what Apollo had meant in the latter half and he couldn’t even begin to comprehend to begin what the god meant in reference to the former.

“Wait, Apollo!” Percy yelped, almost stumbling over his own feet in his haste as he exited too, expecting to see the god’s retreating form. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why he wanted to have the opportunity to wish the god farewell, but he knew it had something to do with the fact he wanted to ask him what in Zeus’ name he had meant.

Instead, there was nothing – not even when he stepped outside into the dying rays of sunlight. He grimaced and trailed after the various groups of demigods towards the Pavilion, knowing what was waiting for him after dinner. 

“Try and keep everyone out of the War Room for me, please?” Percy muttered into Luke’s ear as he stood, knowing he couldn’t delay his meeting with Annabeth any longer.

“Sure thing,” Luke responded, giving him a steady smile. “Good luck. I think you’ll need it.”

Percy didn’t respond, slipping away from the conversations and comfort of his team in order to finally have his moment with Annabeth.

It felt like he was walking into the Underworld for the first time again.

“Hey,” Annabeth caught up with him as he neared the Chaos Cabin, slowing in speed to match his pace once she was level with him.

“Hi,” Percy responded, a little unsure how this conversation was supposed to occur. “Did you enjoy dinner?”

“Malcolm was talking my ear off for the entire thing about a new building schematic,” She laughed, shaking her head. “It’s like we didn’t even go on a Quest.”

“Same old Malcolm then?” Percy recalled similar occasions on which they’d walk away from the Pavilion after sitting separately and she’d fondly complain about her second-in-command.

“One and the same,” Annabeth confirmed as they reached the Cabin, pausing for Percy to open the door and usher her through. “Thanks. War Room?”

“Yeah, I told Luke to keep the others out of there.” Percy nodded, pushing back his hood and removing the mask the second he heard the door click behind them. He raked a hand through his hair as he followed her into the room he had spent almost the entire day in, expecting to see the room in the disarray they had left it in.

Instead, he was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the extra chairs had vanished, leaving only what was around the rounded table in the centre and the few that were tucked under the spare desks. The open notebooks, piles of paper, and uncapped pens that had been strewn over said tabletop were now neatly stacked, pens all placed neatly in a decorative mug. All of the water bottles that had been filled to a various degree, wrappers, and empty packets from various junk foods – everything that indicated to a large group of demigods sitting around – had all vanished too.

The miniature golden suns that decorated the mug told Percy exactly who he had to thank for cleaning the room before he even saw the envelope that was leaning against said ceramic item, ‘Seashell’ written on the exterior in familiar handwriting and shimmering pink ink.

“I didn’t see Apollo at dinner?” Annabeth asked, obviously recognising whose handiwork it was too. 

“He told me that he was heading back to Olympus,” Percy sighed, crossing the room so he could pick up the envelope. “They wanted an update about Nathan, I think. He didn’t really give me much time to ask questions between telling me he was going and just vanishing on me, so I wasn’t expecting this in the slightest.”

He carefully opened the envelope and withdrew the neatly folded piece of paper, almost rolling his eyes when he realised the paper was pink and scented.

Elle Woods, Apollo was not.

_ Seashell, _

_ My apologies for my hasty exit, I figured you’d want to have your reunion with Miss Chase sooner rather than later so I wanted to get out of your hair as swiftly as possible. I meant to tell you that I would be bringing a few books back from Olympus for you to fact check a few of Mr. Burns’ claims before I’d be attending the evening meeting with the Council. _

_ I’ve left the books on your bed, perhaps you and Miss. Chase could take a glance before moving on to different entertainment for the evening. I suppose having a daughter of Athena’s brain on the case would be far more effective than little old me. _

_ Please, please, please keep an eye on William, Nico, and Eros for me. I hardly want to be parted from the four of you again, but needs must. Eros is still refusing to return to Olympus until he regains some semblance of control over his powers, so I fear I must bring Olympus to him tomorrow, so please prepare him. _

_ My apologies once more for a hasty departure and again, best wishes for your conversation with Miss. Chase. It’ll be nice to see you smiling again. _

_ Your favourite ray of Sunshine. _

__

“Anything important?” Annabeth asked once he had finally managed to decipher the general gist of Apollo’s letter. Reading handwriting was far easier in the Labyrinth when he had Apollo narrating it to him. While far nicer than Nathan’s handwriting, Apollo’s was still an absolute pain to read – though Percy couldn’t help but smile at the fact the god dotted his ‘i’s with little suns.

“He is the singularly most frustrating god I have ever met,” Percy declared, once again unable to wrap his head around the obvious double meaning of Apollo’s words. “And I’ve met a lot of frustrating gods.”

“He’s certainly got a talent for it,” Annabeth laughed, shaking her head.

Percy folded the note and laid it on the table atop the envelope. “Apollo aside, what did you want to talk about?”

Annabeth winced. “Is it not obvious?”

“I had my suspicions, I just figured I’d confirm them before diving straight in,” Percy admitted. “Shall we sit?”

She nodded, giving them a moment of quiet to arrange themselves on opposite sides of the table. Percy undid his cloak, letting it fall from his shoulders onto the back of the chair and he rearranged himself slightly to be more comfortable, half wishing that he’d suggested a more comfortable location for them to talk in. Unfortunately, his team would find it far too easy to spy on them if they sat in the living room, and his bedroom was just out of the question.

“You look different,” Annabeth blurted out, tilting her head slightly to look at him. “Not older, obviously, but you seem more relaxed. Happier.”

“You seem more tense,” Percy returned, frowning a little. “Stressed.”

“I won’t lie to you and say that the last five years have been easy for me,” Annabeth winced. “I have major regrets about our last few weeks together and I’ve been haunted by the choices I made in that time period ever since. I threw myself into a college degree as a distraction – along with continuing my designs for Olympus and buildings for Camp – all while trying to search for you.”

“You searched for me?” Percy couldn’t stop his surprise.

“I didn’t exactly tell people what I was doing,” Annabeth sighed. She twirled a piece of hair through her fingers absentmindedly as she thought about what to say next. “I don’t think anyone would have really believed me if I told them that I was.”

“Why?” Percy asked, though he already had his suspicions. Thanks to Nathan.

“I knew we’d get to this question but I was hoping it would be later,” Annabeth admitted, shaking her head. “I know I asked if we could talk, but I don’t really know where to start.”

“How about the day Nathan arrived at Camp?” Percy suggested, quashing the simmering anger that always seemed to flare in his chest when he thought about Nathan’s first few weeks at Camp. It wasn’t the time to get upset about a past that could not be changed now. No, he wanted answers that would give him an idea as to where the future was headed. “How about we start there?”

“He seemed  _ normal  _ when he first arrived, let’s not start there,” Annabeth disagreed, pointing out an obvious detail. It was true, Nathan  _ had  _ seemed normal when he arrived. Styx, Percy had even been excited about his arrival for almost a solid week. “We should probably start with the first time Drew asked if she could speak to me.”

“Drew?” Percy feigned innocence. “Drew as in Drew Tanaka?” 

Annabeth stared at him for several long seconds before she crumbled, shoulders slumping and face dropping. “Who told you?”

“Nathan.” Percy grimaced. “Nathan mentioned that the way he had Drew manipulate you inspired Gaia to kidnap Eros to replicate it on a larger scale. Obviously, he didn’t know that he was talking to me, otherwise I don’t think he would have made such a casual remark. He would have tried to fit it into conversation in a way that would hurt me a lot more.” 

Annabeth stared at him, a familiar expression on her face. He knew exactly what it meant; she was trying to figure out how to say something, but couldn’t even begin to put it into words. It was usually followed by a sigh of frustration before she just spilled, letting a tidal wave of words wash over whoever she was talking to. 

“You’re trying to figure out the best way to ask me where we stand; aren’t you?” Percy asked gently, knowing that it was most likely the turn this conversation was taking. “That’s what you wanted to talk about, right? My feelings for you, your feelings for me? What happened five years ago?”

Annabeth let out a frustrated sigh, just like he knew she would. “Percy, gods of Olympus, I never thought I’d have the opportunity to have this conversation with you.” She shook her head and sighed again, giving him a soft smile. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Percy agreed, knowing in his heart that it was the truth.

“I’ve spent five years wanting to have this,  _ us _ , back,” Annabeth admitted, levelling him with a serious glint in her eyes. “Our friendship.”

An overwhelming wave of relief washed over Percy, his shoulders relaxing as the tension he didn’t realise he was holding in them melted away and receded like the tide. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he realised that they were, thankfully, on the same page.

“That’s what you were hoping I’d say, right?” Annabeth asked, though it was clear she could still read him like a book.

“Yes,” He vocalised it for both of their benefits, nodding his head as he affirmed it. “Yes, that’s what I was hoping you’d say. I’ve missed you for all of this time, I swear, but when I was given the chance to move on and think things through, I realised how much I missed how we were, what we were like when we were just friends. I love you, of course I love you, but it’s more of a familial love. I don’t regret our relationship, I just regret the way it ended.”

“I don’t think you realise how much I needed to hear that.” Annabeth bit her lip, tears visibly welling in her eyes. “I’ve wanted to hear you say that to me ever since it registered that you were gone and I thought I’d never get to see your face again. The day you arrived in Camp, I had a moment when you first spoke where I just  _ knew  _ that it was your voice coming from the person under the mask before I tried to bend over backwards convincing myself that I was imagining it. I didn’t want to be right, for the first time in my life, because if I was right, I ran the risk of having to hear you say that you didn’t even want my friendship. And I don’t think I could have sat here and listened to that. It’s why I acted like a total bitch in the Labyrinth, I didn’t think you’d actually take the bait and reveal yourself. Being confronted with your undeniable presence, I thought you were going to tell me you hated me and I figured why not give you a reason? Then I realised that we should probably talk before I jumped to conclusions, but I couldn’t help but worry when you refused. You see, Luke may have promised that we were family, but you were the first one to show me what a family truly was; you and Grover were the start of the family I have today, but you’ve been one Hades of a missing piece.”

“When I was told that we were coming back, you were the person I was most worried about seeing,” Percy admitted. “I didn’t really know where my feelings for you lay; I didn’t really know what they were, or what I wanted to hear you say. My emotions towards you felt so mixed up, it wasn’t until I saw you that everything really started to settle and click into place. That’s when I realised that I was glad we ended, but I hated the way we did.”

“I hated it too. I hated that I was responsible for driving you away from a place you called home, even though I’m not self-centred enough to think I was the only reason. I just wish we could have ended on our terms, that our relationship got to run its own course and we were the ones who got to decide where it went next.” Annabeth grimaced. “What did Nathan actually say?”

“We were asking him why Gaia had chosen Eros; why not kidnap Thanatos, again, or one of the other gods, why Eros?” Percy explained to her, feeling comfortable now. “Gaia wanted to manipulate people into falling in love with his friends, people that could be lured to their side with the right sort of persuasion. He said that she had seen what he’d had Drew do to you and wanted to replicate it on a larger and more successful scale. In Nathan’s words; charmspeak wears off, no matter how many times it is used for the same purpose, having a god change someone’s actual emotions doesn’t.”

“Oh my gods.” Annabeth looked horrified.

“My blood ran cold in my veins and I had to sit and let Apollo take over questioning for a moment,” Percy admitted. “I was so relieved I’d asked him to join me; I’d been planning to go and speak to him alone, maybe take my mask off and speak to him face to face, but I’m glad I decided against it – it plays to our advantage in the long run if he doesn’t know who I am.”

“Did Gaia manage to get Eros to carry out her bidding?” Annabeth asked, clear worry on her face. “Clarisse isn’t going to sudden start declaring her love for Drew instead of Chris, right?”

“No,” Percy assured her. “Apollo thankfully got an answer to that question. Apparently they wanted him to fully break and join their cause. When we rescued him, Nathan and Octavian were going to be escorting him to speak with Gaia for the final time. If he had refused again, they were just going to throw him into Tartarus so he couldn’t warn us.”

“Thank the gods that Apollo went with you then.” Annabeth had a small smirk on her face, as if she knew something that Percy didn’t. Usually it was accompanied by a fond ‘Seaweed Brain’ comment. Percy wouldn’t lie; he had missed hearing that nickname, especially from Annabeth.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Percy asked, feeling as though he was missing out on some sort of cosmic joke. “You’ve got that look on your face that means you know something I don’t!”

“What look, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth teased. “That’s just my permanent facial expression.”

“ _ Funny _ .” Percy rolled his eyes. “Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll just ask you how kissing Nathan was then.”

“Oh, who’s the funny man now,” Annabeth laughed, shaking her head. “And to answer your question; terrible. He was genuinely one of the worst kissers I’ve ever had the misfortune of being kissed by. It was legitimately like having a piece of seaweed thrown in your face and he didn’t have the slightest clue what to do with his hands. I sort of feel a little sorry for Octavian if Nathan kissed him the same way he kissed me.”

“That’s certainly a glowing review,” Percy couldn’t stop himself from laughing with her. “What do you say about kissing me?”

“Oh shut up, you know you’re a good kisser.” Annabeth rolled her eyes. “I legitimately think that the reason Drew had to charmspeak me so much was not because she’s not on the same level as Piper, but because I knew that I seriously didn’t want to have to lip-lock with an octopus again.”

“Octopus?” Percy repeated. “I thought you kissed Nathan, not Octavian?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes again before giving him a fond smile. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Percy responded fondly, feeling relief once again that this conversation had gone the way he had wanted it to go.

“In all seriousness though, I can only apologise for the way we ended.” Annabeth grimaced, giving him an apologetic look. “I wish I’d never agreed to speak to Drew the first time she came to me and asked if we could speak away from prying ears; I genuinely just thought she wanted advice. She does crocodile tears so well. I should have come to you as soon as I could feel her charmspeak wearing off, instead of feeling guilty and wasting time wondering, so she had the opportunity to corner me and reissue the commands. I shouldn’t have insisted we give Nathan a chance from the start; not after the first time you said that there was something off about him, I should have listened to you and-”

“I’m sorry for not realising that there was something majorly suspicious about the way you changed towards me in less than a day,” Percy cut her off, knowing she would ramble if he let her. He knew she was sorry, she needed to know that he was too. “ _ Especially  _ when you had told me that Drew wanted to talk to you. Everything was just happening so fast and I never stopped to think things through. I just left.”

“What I said to you in the Labyrinth, I shouldn’t have.” Annabeth shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I’ve missed you so much and I’m so glad to have you back. I’m so glad that I’ve got my best friend back. Not to mention the fact you brought Luke back.”

“Sometimes I want to send him back to the Underworld,” Percy joked. “I’m so relieved to have you back as well; I’ve missed you, Wise Girl.”

“Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth teased fondly. “I’m so proud of you. You seem so much more comfortable and sure of yourself. You’ve built a little family with your team and honestly, I’m a little thankful that you left because you got the opportunity to bring back so many people that deserved another shot.”

“I love each and every member of my team,” Percy admitted.

“Do you count Apollo as one of your team now?” Annabeth asked, tone innocent. 

Percy narrowed his eyes at her slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m only asking!” Annabeth held her hands up defensively. “I’m just curious, he seems to fit in with your rag-tag bunch of modern and ancient heroes.”

“He’s one of the team and has the matching cloak to prove it.” Percy shrugged his shoulders. “Happy now?”

“You always did like blondes,” Annabeth muttered, barely audible, before her grin got bigger and she leaned forward slightly, a look of interest on her face. “So, tell me about the rest of your team.”

Percy relaxed, making the executive decision to ignore Annabeth’s random comment, and started to catch up on the last five years with one of his oldest best friends.

  
  



	57. Arthur, Percy's (Old) Godly Friend.

Percy closed his bedroom door behind him with a sigh of relief, wanting nothing more than to just slide into bed and ignore the rest of the world for at least eight solid hours. It had been a long day, filled from morning to night with exhausting conversations; the type of day that would have been tiring enough alone, but the fact it took place after a busy night where he’d gotten very little sleep made it even worse. 

In fact, he wasn’t overly certain when the last time he’d had a proper night’s sleep had been.

Unfortunately, when he turned to look at his bed, he recalled a particular line from Apollo’s note. The one that mentioned the fact the god was going to be leaving a stack of books on his bed for him, books that would let him fact check some of the things Nathan had said that day.

He let out another sigh, wondering if he could bring himself to start looking at them now, or if his tired eyes would take one look at the first sentence and make it even more undecipherable than usual.

“Percy?” Nico’s voice sounded from the other side of the door, muffled through the wood.

Percy turned back and opened the door once again, giving the two people standing on the other side an exhausted smile. “Neeks, Will, what can I do for you?”

“Sorry for disturbing you, you look shattered,” Will apologised, biting his lip. “Have you seen my dad since the meeting? We don’t remember seeing him at dinner and we’ve definitely not seen him since.”

“Ah,” Percy sighed. “So it was only me that he told?”

“Told you what?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Come on in.” Percy knew that a quiet evening trying to decipher whatever material Apollo had sourced was out of the question now. “You can entertain me while I do some research for our resident sun god.”

The two filtered past him, hands intertwined. Percy was fairly convinced that they hadn’t released their hold on one another all day and he didn’t blame them in the slightest. If he was in their shoes, he’d do the exact same. 

“So, my dad told you where he was going and left you with a bunch of books?” Will asked, eyeing the stack that lay at the foot of Percy’s bed. 

“He was acting a bit weird, if I’m being honest.” Percy frowned, remembering how out of character Apollo had seemed just a few moments after he’d been laughing and joking with him.

“Weird?” Nico raised an eyebrow. “You’ll have to be a little more specific, Barnacle Boy. ‘Weird’ is a pretty wide-ranging description when it comes to Apollo.”

“Oi!” Will defended his father. “You may have a point but you could put it in a nicer way.”

“He was fine after the meeting, he just went a little funny after I agreed to speak to Annabeth.” Percy shrugged his shoulders. “Said a few things and then decided that he needed to go to Olympus immediately to talk about our  _ talk _ with Nathan. He literally left in a whirlwind, I barely got the chance to process what he was saying before he was out the door – let alone say anything in response.”

“Wait, you spoke to Annabeth?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“I thought Luke would have told you,” Percy groaned. “Yes, I spoke to Annabeth. We talked. We fixed things. We’re friends again.”

“And you said my dad went weird after you agreed to talk to her?” Will raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah, he went from joking that I was in trouble to saying something about hopefully getting everything I wanted out of the conversation?” Percy couldn’t keep the confused look off of his face. Sue him, Apollo confused him to Hades and back. “Then he ran away. Like, literally.”

“What did you want from that conversation?” Will asked. “More importantly, what did my dad think you wanted from that conversation?”

“I wanted to talk about what happened before I left, literally everyone knows that’s all I have ever wanted to talk to her about,” Percy sighed. “So yeah, I guess I did get what I wanted from that conversation.”

“That’s the only thing you wanted to talk about?” Nico asked, disbelief stressing his tone.

“Alright fine, I wanted to talk about where we stand now.” Percy gave a hopeless gesture with his hands. “Like, relationship wise. I wanted to know if we were on the same page.”

“And what would that page be?” Nico asked, voice gentle now.

“Friends,” Percy breathed a sigh of relief. “We agreed on friends. Which is exactly what page I wanted to be on.”

“Oh.” Nico looked surprised, swiftly trying to change his expression to a more neutral one. Percy still caught it though. “Really?”

“Yes!” Percy insisted. “Does everyone seriously think that I’ve been in love with her for the last few years? Wanting a resolution does not mean that I’ve been secretly harbouring the same feelings I once had. I’ve moved on, I’m happy how I am at this moment in time.”

“You’ve said a few times since coming back that you didn’t know what your feelings towards Annabeth were,” Nico pointed out. “It’s not my fault that we all thought you meant you didn’t know whether or not you still liked her.”

“I didn’t know if I could do friends or if I was too angry,” Percy clarified, feeling a little sheepish for giving off the wrong impression. “It was when I actually started to interact with her properly that I began to realise that I wouldn’t be able to stay mad at her for long, especially not when I found out that Nathan had Drew manipulate her.”

“I didn’t believe her at first,” Nico admitted, a guilty look on his face. “When you came back though, it wasn’t my place to tell you. It was for her to tell you.”

“I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth first,” Percy huffed. “Nathan admitted it when Apollo and I were asking questions; we asked what Gaia wanted to do with Eros and he told us that she was inspired by what he had Drew do to Annabeth, she just wanted to replicate it on a larger, more permanent scale. It was something he told us pretty freely, but I highly doubt he would’ve if he’d known who exactly he was telling.”

“Gaia wanted Eros to do what?” Will asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“Charmspeak of the more permanent variety.” Percy shuddered at the thought. “As in, she wanted Eros to change the emotions of people on our side and have them fall for the enemy so they could bribe them to join their cause.”

“Well that’s just fucked up,” Will commented, tone mild.

“You can say that again,” Percy huffed. “I’ve been meaning to ask Eros about it, but I haven’t had a second to catch him today. Everything has just been one thing after another and I thought Apollo would be here to ask him for me.”

“Do you want to speak to him now?” Nico suggested.

Percy couldn’t stop his instinctive grimace.

“I’m going to guess that meant ‘no’?” Will asked.

“I know I should, I really, really should,” Percy sighed. “But, I just can’t bring myself to go and speak to Eros now. If he was easy to talk to, then sure! I’d probably already be in there chatting to him. Unfortunately, he’s one of the most frustrating beings on this planet. And I don’t have the energy to verbally spar with him right now.”

“All very fair points,” Nico agreed, nodding his head. “You couldn’t pay me to willingly have a conversation with Eros on the best of days.”

“Babe, if someone had to pay you to have a conversation with him, it wouldn’t exactly be willing,” Will pointed out, a fond expression on his face. “I feel like I should start calling you ‘Numbskull’ again.”

“We agreed to retire that nickname.” Nico practically pouted. “I let it slide last night because you’d just woken up, but we did agree to retire it.”

“Nope, I can say with certainty that we didn’t,” Will responded, a grin slowly spreading across his cheeks. “The deal was you’d keep me company on one of my dad’s more inane ideas for father-son bonding day and I distinctly remember you taking a dive into the nearest patch of shadow when you realised he wanted to do a horseback tour of some of the Lord of the Rings shooting locations.”

“You know I don’t get along with horses!” Nico argued. “Animals don’t like me, we established this when I took you to the zoo. And anyway, I’ve spent four years going on your father-son bonding trips for you, so surely that counts for something?”

“Yeah, because I was dead?” Will reminded him. 

Percy couldn’t help but watch them with a bemused expression on his face, eyes going back and forth like he was watching a tennis match.

“Well, yes, but- Oh gods, I can’t even justify a response to that.” Nico winced. “You win.”

“You also enjoyed every minute of those trips, don’t try to lie to me,” Will laughed. “You know you did.”

“Aha!” Nico cried triumphantly. “I’m not lying! I didn’t enjoy it when he took me water-skiing, surfing, scuba-diving, or anything else water-related. It was bad enough whenever he’d take me flying in the chariot.”

“So you didn’t enjoy like four trips in four years?” Will raised an eyebrow. “Wow, that must have been so hard for you.”

“He took me to an Aquarium in Dubai seven times because there was a shark there who tried to break the glass so he could eat me!” Nico argued. “He only stopped taking me because Uncle P found out and threatened to rat him out to my dad.”

“Do you want me to leave you two alone?” Percy offered, despite the fact it was his room that they were arguing in.

They stopped bickering and turned to look at him, both of them flushing when they realised they weren’t alone.

“I can leave, if you want me to?” Percy offered once again, gesturing to his own door. “I mean, I’d have to steal your room because I’m seriously trying to avoid everyone else asking me awkward questions about Annabeth and I can’t exactly go and hide in Apollo’s room because that’s where Eros has taken up residence and I’m trying to avoid him too.”

“Sorry!” Will was the first one to speak. “We keep forgetting that other people exist.”

“I figured,” Percy laughed.

“Wait, that sounded terrible,” Will protested, his eyes going wide. “I meant to say that we keep getting distracted because we’ve missed each other. Blame Numbskull, he keeps-”

“Will, amore, chill,” Nico cut him off gently.

“I understand completely,” Percy assured them. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling, relieved to see Nico happy again. He’d always liked Will, the son of Apollo had been a friendly face every time he had visited Camp and he’d only gotten to know him better after he had been made Head Counsellor – even if the circumstances of his promotion hadn’t been the best. “I’m surprised you bothered to stop by for any longer after you’d got an answer about where your dad was. You’ve not even had twenty-four hours together again, nobody would blame you for disappearing for a while; I know I certainly wouldn’t.”

“When all of this is over, Nico has insisted that we’re going on holiday,” Will informed him, giving his boyfriend a fond look. “We can wait until then.”

“You’re a better person than I am then,” Percy joked. “If I was in your shoes, I’d take my boyfriend’s offer of a holiday and run.”

“You’d actually need to have a boyfriend for that one, Fish Food,” Nico pointed out, rolling his eyes.

Percy, in all of his mature and infinite wisdom, just stuck his tongue out at him.

“I’ve missed watching the two of you bully one another,” Will laughed, shaking his head. “This is reminding me of when you finally managed to drag Nic back to Camp.”

“It’s not bullying, it’s family bonding!” Nico swiftly protested.

“Is that what you tell Sally, my brave Prince of Darkness?” Will cooed, clearly being sarcastic.

Nico still blushed. “Amore, you know I hate that nickname.”

“And I hate being called ‘Fish Food’, especially after I distinctly remember you agreeing to never call me it again, but you don’t see me complaining about it,” Percy did the only thing he could do; complain. “Bone Breath.”

“Oi!” Nico huffed. “You know you can’t call me that.”

“What are you going to do, tell mom?” Percy retorted. “I’d just tell her that you called me Fish Food.”

“This really does bring back memories,” Will laughed again. “Do you want me to leave you guys alone?”

“Nope,” Nico responded swiftly. “You’re not allowed out of my sight.”

“Did you actually sleep last night or did you just watch Will sleep à la Edward Cullen?” Percy asked, eyeing Nico for the typical signs that the son of Hades had pulled an all-nighter; pale skin, bags beneath his eyes, messy hair- Oh wait. That was no different from how Nico usually looked.

“He actually fell asleep halfway through telling me that he loved me,” Will informed him lightly. “I was going to wake him up so I could hear the rest of it, but I fell asleep too.”

“Young love!” Percy teased, voice sugar sweet. He sighed and glanced at the pile of books that were still sitting on his bed, waiting for him to open them and attempt to read them. As much as he wanted to ignore them and continue trying to sway Will to the dark side and gang up on his own boyfriend, he knew that he should probably look at least one page before making any further Twilight comparisons.

“I recognise that look,” Nico stated dryly.

“I don’t!” Will volunteered happily.

“It’s his ‘do I actually have to read that’ look,” Nico informed him. “We saw it a lot during his senior year; it’s a good thing he doesn’t have Leo’s powers because I think his textbooks would have been set alight by his eyes. Instead, we found him dunking his copy of Macbeth in the bathtub after his English final.”

“I didn’t actually let it get wet!” Percy found himself having to defend his actions. “I knew Paul would be sad if I drowned the damn thing, so I just pretended to have my revenge on it. Anyway, stop trying to distract me!”

“Percy, you could distract yourself in an empty room.” Nico rolled his eyes. 

“Well, yes, you might have a point there,” Percy sighed. “But arguing about it would mean you’d succeed in distracting me again and I don’t need that. I need to start looking at these stupid books.”

“Do you want our help?” Will offered.

Percy eyed the stack of books, his resolve weakening by the second. He knew he should probably look them over himself; getting the other two involved would mean having to explain everything that Nathan told them and he wasn’t overly certain that they’d be happy to hear it. On the other hand, he really didn’t want to be stuck looking through them alone. “Yes please?” 

“You realise you’re going to have to tell us what we’re looking for?” Will pointed out the elephant in the room once they were all settled; Percy sat on his bed and the loving couple lying on the thick, blue rug on the floor beside it with several pillows and cushions that they had stolen from said bed.

“Your dad wanted me to fact check a few of the things Nathan claimed today,” Percy sighed. “He said that Gaia had found spells to summon some of the worst monsters from Tartarus, spells that would make them nigh on unkillable. Apollo said he’d raid Olympus’ libraries so we could verify that the spells exist, but he has high hopes that the rest of the Council will join us for whatever battle is brought to our borders.”

Nico looked troubled. “Do you have any idea when they’d come?”

Percy grimaced and shook his head. “We don’t know for certain.”

“That means you have some idea though, right?” Will raised an eyebrow.

He looked them both in the eye and nodded slightly. “Our worry is that it’s going to be sooner rather than later now that we’ve recovered Eros and taken Nathan hostage. They’ve lost the element of surprise, Nathan kept lamenting about the fact Gaia doesn’t trust him,” Percy let out a weary sigh. “We think she may assume, correctly, that he’s sold them out for safety. And then she’ll want to cut her losses and attack whether they’re ready or not. It’ll put both sides at a disadvantage, but I have no doubts that they’d be more prepared than us.”

“We’ve got some plans in place, haven’t we?” Nico frowned. “Your team has been training with the campers while we’ve been gone, right?”

“There’s only so much that can be done in a couple of weeks,” Percy pointed out, no matter how reluctant he was to admit it.

“Why do you have to be right?” Nico groaned. “You’ve not even started to talk about the lack of experience the newer campers have. Some of them have never had to fight anything but a practice dummy.”

“I didn’t want to be completely pessimistic.” Percy grimaced. He hadn’t even begun to think about the campers who had known nothing but peace, his mind occupied elsewhere. “I didn’t want to steal the crown for ‘most pessimistic’ from you.”

“He keeps it on a shelf next to the ‘Prince of Darkness’ and ‘Ghost King’ ones.” Will smiled angelically. 

“Hey!” Nico playfully nudged his shoulder. “You’re my boyfriend, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Well, Wings, I need to earn the title of ‘significant annoyance’ back,” Will laughed.

Percy blinked. “What did you just call him?”

“Wings?” Will raised an eyebrow.

Percy blinked again. “…He’s a son of Hades?”

“Angelo means Angel,” Will spoke slowly, as if he was explaining it to Estelle instead of Percy. “And I only like using Angel to really embarrass him because he calls it cheesy. Angels have wings, so Wings!”

Percy blinked once again. “I take it all back.”

It was Will’s turn to look confused. “Take what back?” 

“You’re absolutely your father’s son, there’s no doubt about it.” Percy shuddered. “You’ve got the same affinity for terrible nicknames.”

“What, like ‘babe’?” Nico asked, expression smug.

“Shut up and read your books,” Percy responded maturely, unable to believe that they’d managed to fall into this conversation again.

“Sure thing, babe,” Nico responded, clearly just trying to wind him up if the continuous smirk on his face was anything to go by.

“See, if I was my dad right now, I’d probably be very jealous of Nic calling you babe,” Will pointed out. “But since I’m thankfully not my dad, I just find it hilarious.”

“I preferred it when you were helping me bully Nico,” Percy informed him, ignoring the fact that Nico was now openly laughing at him. “That was way more fun, can we go back to that now please?”

“What happened to wanting to read?” Nico asked. “You can’t do that  _ and _ bully me. None of us have the attention span to do those two things at once.”

Percy huffed, knowing he was making a valid point. He fixed his eyes on the nearest book to hand, eyeing the worn brown leather that it was bound in. He prayed to the gods that Apollo’d had the decency to wipe the dust off them before dumping them on Percy’s bed because he seriously didn’t have the energy to change the sheets and he didn’t want to spend the night sneezing the cabin down.

“I can’t even read the title of this,” he complained, gesturing to the offending item as he squinted at the faded gold letters. The majority of the gilding had flaked away, leaving darker spots on the leather as his only guide to what the letter was supposed to be.

“You can’t read at the best of times,” Nico muttered.

“Neither can you, Bone Boy,” Percy snarked back.

Instead of looking to see what type of offended look was on Nico’s face, he started to trace the lines on the cover; hoping that the gilt wouldn’t flake further under his touch. To his sheer surprise, tracing the letters only seemed to make them shimmer and shine brighter. They were far easier to read than they were only seconds before, which only served to confuse him further.

“It’s called a book, Barnacle Brain,” Nico laughed from the floor, unable to see what was causing the look of confusion on his face. “You open the cover and read what’s inside. If you’re lucky, there will be pictures.”

Percy flipped him off before swiping his fingers gently over the letters again, figuring that it was just old, residual magic. The effect was probably far better when the book was freshly bound. He dismissed his confusion and opened it, letting out a small groan when he realised it was less of a book and more of a diary.

Percy was fed up with diaries.

“What’s up, Cody?” Nico asked, disregarding the book in his hands.

“Cody?” Will echoed.

“You know, the penguin in Surf’s Up?” Nico responded. “Since Perce is so good at surfing and all?”

“And you complain about my dad’s nicknames,” Will groaned.

“It’s a diary,” Percy huffed. “I hate having to read other people’s handwriting, my own is bad enough.”

Nico regarded him strangely. “Didn’t you read Nathan’s diary?”

“Well, yes,” Percy agreed, knowing that he was signing himself for more verbal torture. “I figured out what he did to Will and then when we were in the Labyrinth…”

“When you were in the Labyrinth, what?” Will prompted when he didn’t immediately continue.

“Apollo read it to me,” Percy admitted softly, feeling his cheeks warm.

“What was that?” Will frowned. “I don’t think I heard that properly.”

Percy wondered how much Nico valued having his boyfriend back. “Apollo read it to me!”

“Alright, Perce, no need to shout about it.” Will held his hands up, shit-eating grin on his face. 

“You’re worse than your boyfriend,” Percy retorted. “I hope you’re happy with that knowledge.”

Will cackled; straight up, side-splitting laughter as he took delight in Percy’s statement. “You wouldn’t believe how happy it makes me to hear that.”

Percy let out a small huff, deciding it would be an appropriate course of action to just ignore the two idiots laughing on his bedroom floor. He tried to focus his attention back on the faded ink and the delicate handwriting that lay on the pages before him, but his mind couldn’t help but remind him that this had been a hell of a lot easier when he’d had a warm presence against his side, with said presence reading the words aloud for him in gentle tones.

Then it registered what he’d actually just thought about.

“Percy?” Nico sounded mildly concerned. “You look like you’ve been slapped with a wet fish.”

Percy looked up and looked at the loved-up couple on his floor.

Yeah, he decided firmly. 

He was feeling jealous.

Obviously. What else would it be?

“Natural resting face,” Percy defended weakly, painting a sunny smile on his face. “I’m good. Just concentrating.”

“Uh-huh,” Nico was clearly unconvinced. “If you change your mind on that one, just let us know.”

Percy nodded numbly, deciding it would be safer to keep his mouth shut. He fixed his eyes on the diary resting in his lap, hoping it would capture his full attention as he took in a deep breath to calm his suddenly racing thoughts; letting the scent of the old pages fill his senses in the hope it would wash away the memory of a different one.

The words seemed to swirl, the letters on the page a hopeless mix of cursive text in the wrong order. Percy wanted to curse whoever the diary belonged to. He closed it once more, examining the leather of the cover thoroughly to see if he could figure out the identity of the owner. When it surrendered no clues, he opened it once again; this time he focused his attention on the inside of the front and back covers, running his fingers down the seams of the embroidered silk that lined them. He couldn’t help but marvel at the diary’s age as he flipped through random pages, slightly stunned that Apollo had entrusted it to him.

For a moment he began to wonder whether it was Apollo’s diary he was holding in his hands, but he was quick to banish all thought of the sun god once more. He had a feeling that anything that belonged to Apollo would have a little more of the god’s signature flair – along with enough miniature suns to make any child obsessed with the solar system jealous. No, there was nothing about this that screamed Apollo’s name.

Though, he realised when he squinted at the page it had fallen to, it did look like Apollo’s name was written in green ink – ink that had faded so much it was practically black. He traced the cursive letters, tilting his head in the hope it would make the sentence it was included in easier to read.

_ ‘-company of Apollo, I reluctantly agreed to honour Aphrodite’s request. It was not commonplace to refuse one of the Council; let alone a Lady such as Aphrodite, who has the power to make any one of us fall ill of her whims. No, it was easier to agree to her plan to rescue Eros from the fate he had befallen at her hand – no matter how unintentional this matter was. _ ’

“Oh!” Percy looked up, realising that he knew the identity of the author, even if he wasn’t overly certain of one key detail. Their name. 

“What is it?” Nico asked instantly, concern still clear in his eyes.

“I’ve been trying to figure out who this diary belongs to,” Percy explained. “And I finally managed to read a section of it and I recognise the event the author is referring to. So I know who wrote it, but I’m not overly sure of their identity.”

“What?” Nico frowned. “You know who wrote it but you also don’t know who wrote it?”

“Do you remember when we found Eros and Apollo mentioned that he’d had to rescue him before?” Percy asked, directing the question at Nico. “Eros had been kidnapped and it was Apollo and another god that agreed to go and rescue him?”

“I remember,” Nico confirmed.

“I think this was written by the god that went with Apollo, but I don’t think he ever mentioned a name,” Percy explained. “So yeah, I know who wrote it but I also don’t know who wrote it.”

Will frowned for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t help here. I’d be naming near enough the entire pantheon if I tried to name every god my dad is friends with. It would probably take me until dawn just to list the names beginning with ‘A’, so I don’t fancy my chances with the rest of the alphabet.”

Percy looked back down, flicking through a few more pages and frowning. He didn’t know why he was bothering to try and read something that would obviously amount to nothing; he wasn’t looking for stories about what the gods got up to many millennia ago, he was looking for answers to what Nathan had told them. He was looking for information that would help him save Camp, no matter what. There was something, a small instinct, telling him to keep looking though; to keep focusing his attention on a diary of an unknown god, despite the fact it likely held none of the answers he was looking for.

“You’ve got that ‘slapped-by-a-wet-fish’ look on your face again, Perce,” Nico informed him.

“I’m thinking!” Percy defended himself.

“Makes a change,” Nico retorted, though there was a teasing smile on his face. “Whatcha thinking about?”

“Everything and nothing,” Percy responded with something akin to the truth. “My brain hurts. I’m trying to decide whether or not to carry on staring at the words in this and hoping they make sense or whether to swap books and stare at the words in that one and hope they make sense.”

“Percy, you’re the one making no sense.” Nico shook his head. “Do you maybe want to try and answer that again?”

“I’m good,” Percy sighed. He looked at the page and the words that weren’t making any sense and decided it would be easier to get the answer from the horse’s mouth. “I’m going to speak to Eros, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“You’re what?” Nico asked as he reluctantly stood up. “Weren’t you literally just saying that you didn’t want to go and speak to our resident Lovebug?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Percy groaned. He glanced at the diary and decided it would be best to leave it behind, placing it back down on his bed.

“Aren’t’ you going to take that with you?” Will asked.

“Nope,” Percy responded before he stopped and frowned. “Despite the fact it would make sense to take it with me.”

He shrugged and decided to exit the room before he got distracted further, figuring he could just return and grab it if he needed to.

Thankfully, the room they’d given to Apollo was only a few doors down from his. Despite that fact, Percy still tried to get there as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to talk to Eros, but he certainly didn’t want to get caught up in conversation with any of his teammates.

Not wanting to be stood in the corridor for long, Percy knocked on the door of the room Eros had taken up residence in – albeit reluctantly.

“Perseus Jackson, as I live and breathe,” Eros purred when he opened the door to see Percy standing there. “Hey there, gorgeous, I was just thinking about you.”

“Have you got highlights?” Percy blurted out, frowning at Eros’ hair.

“What?” Eros blinked at him, clearly caught off guard.

“Your hair, it looks lighter.” Percy continued to frown before he blinked and shook his head. “Sorry, ignore me. I came to ask you something.”

“Whatever it is, the answer is yes.” Eros grinned.

“Wait until you hear the question first,” Percy laughed. “Mind if I come in?”

“Well duh, I’ve already answered that one.” Eros rolled his eyes before stepping aside to allow Percy in.

“Thanks,” Percy acknowledged as he entered, slipping past the god. 

“So what’s up, boo?” Eros asked, shutting the door behind them. “Missing your usual ray of sunshine and figured you’d settle for lil’ ole me?”

Percy ducked his head instinctively as he felt his cheeks flush and betray him. “I genuinely needed to ask you something,” he admitted, thinking of the diary. “…Though I probably would have asked Apollo if he were here.”

“He’ll be back soon, Little Prince, don’t you worry your pretty little head,” Eros beamed at him. Percy had a sneaking suspicion that Eros would have patted him on said head if he was standing any closer. “So what do you need to ask?”

“Do you remember when we rescued you?” Percy started, figuring it was the easiest way to establish what he was trying to say.

“Yes dear, it’s an event that’s vividly ingrained in my mind because it was the first time I’d seen a group of pretty faces that didn’t want to kill me in four years,” Eros responded before he could continue.

“Do you remember when Apollo mentioned the last time he had to rescue you?” Percy asked. “When you got kidnapped for real after Aphrodite had orchestrated it multiple times so it wasn’t taken seriously at first? Who was the other god that came to rescue you with Apollo?”

It was like a switch had been flicked, with Eros’ eyes literally flickering from blue to green flecked with gold before he blinked and Percy was looking at blue again. The god stiffened, his expression shuttering and his smile evaporating for a moment before he affixed a false one in its place. “Why?” Eros asked simply, all light-heartedness and jest gone from his voice.

“Sorry, did I bring up a bad memory?” Percy frowned, wondering whether it would have been best to just leave his questions until Apollo returned. “I didn’t mean to upset you; Apollo left a stack of books for me to go through in my room, for me to verify some of Nathan’s claims and to figure out how to stop Gaia, and I found this diary amongst them. My head is a bit all over the place tonight and I couldn’t really focus on reading it, so I didn’t know who it belonged to, but I managed to read a section that mentioned rescuing you with Apollo and I remembered what was said in the Labyrinth. His name was never mentioned though and-”

“Aether.” Eros cut him off, his voice soft. “The name of the god that rescued me with Apollo was Aether.”

Percy blinked at him, the name familiar for some reason. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on why. “I feel like I’ve heard his name before,” Percy found himself admitting, hoping Eros could clarify the reason why.

“I highly doubt it,” Eros let out a small laugh and shook his head. “He’s not one for interactions with demigods. Erebus, he’s not exactly one for interactions with gods at the best of times.”

“What’s he the god of?” Percy asked, hoping that maybe it would provide some clarity. Perhaps it was a name Annabeth had mentioned long ago, a god that she had met while redesigning Olympus after the First War.

“He’s the god of Upper Air, the air on Olympus essentially,” Eros explained. “It’s rare for him to leave Olympus, he likes to keep to himself.”

“But he agreed to help rescue you once upon a time?” Percy pressed. Perhaps it was Apollo himself who had mentioned Aether’s name.

“Yes,” Eros sounded wistful. “I knew him well once.”

“I’m trying to figure out why I recognise his name,” Percy sighed. “And I can’t. Did he help in either of the wars?”

“I’m no expert, it’s something you’d probably have to ask the god himself.” Eros shrugged.

“Could you?” Percy asked, feeling as though it was important. 

“Could I  _ what _ ?” Eros frowned.

“Ask him?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Me?” Eros’ eyes widened. 

“Yes?” Percy nodded. “Who else do you see in this room?”

“You want me to speak to Aether?” Eros asked.

“Well, yes?” Percy nodded again. 

“Me?” Eros repeated.

“Yes?” Percy answered with an affirmative again, wondering why Eros had seemingly lost all capacity for rational thought in the span of a few seconds.

“Oh no, I couldn’t.” Eros shook his head, looking almost fearful. “No, you’d be best waiting for Apollo to return. Apollo can ask him. Or you can ask him yourself!”

Percy regarded Eros with a judgemental stare; he didn’t know the god well enough to know if the way he was acting was normal, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t normal for Eros. He wasn’t his usual self, the Eros that Percy had unfortunately gotten familiar with. 

For one, he hadn’t made a flirtatious remark in the last five minutes. 

Truly a welcome relief, but also a cause for concern. Eros flirted as easily as he breathed, and as far as Percy could tell, he was still breathing. He just wasn’t doing the other thing.

“Are you okay?” He finally decided to just ask the question burning on his lips. “You’re acting a little off.”

“Me? I’m fine, my little Anemone, why do you ask?” Eros flashed a bright smile. It was fake, Percy would put drachmas on it.

“Do you and Aether have a complicated relationship or something?” Percy asked, realising that Eros had started acting off the minute the conversation had turned to the mystery god.

“Or something,” Eros repeated, shooting the floor a mutinous look. “Apollo wasn’t the only person I had a falling out with, P, and it’s a time of my life that I don’t like to discuss much. So, like I said, if you want to talk to Aether for whatever reason, you’d best do it yourself.”

“How?” Percy asked.

“Oh?” Eros looked taken back. “That’s it, you’re just going to drop it? You don’t want to ask me more questions about him? You’ll just accept that I don’t want to talk about or talk to the guy and just go with it?”

“Well, yes?” Percy frowned. “Am I not supposed to do that? I can ask if you want me to, but I kind of got the impression that you didn’t?”

“Oh, no. Please don’t ask me.” Eros shook his head before a soft smile lit up his features. Percy would put drachmas on this one being real. “I can see why Apollo likes you.”

“He likes me?” Percy blurted out, feeling a strange sort of relief at the affirmation. “That’s a relief to hear y’know, he’s probably the first god I’ve properly made friends with.”

“Percy, he-” Eros started before shaking his head and sighing. “Forget it. You were asking how to speak to Aether?”

“Oh, yeah. Aether!” Percy nodded, relieved that one of them was keeping track of the main reason he was here. “I’ve got a feeling he won’t accept an IM request from a random demigod.”

“You’re not entirely ‘random’, Little Sea Otter,” Eros informed him fondly. Percy made an executive decision to just ignore the nickname; if he dared to protest, it would stick. He didn’t want that one to stick. “Your reputation precedes you. But I see your point, even if you were to IM him, I doubt he’d respond. No, the best way to get him to pay you a visit is to pray to him.”

“Wouldn’t he just ignore me?” Percy frowned. 

“When was the last time you heard someone pray to the god of Upper Air for aid?” Eros raised an eyebrow. “Pray to him, he’ll hear you. Whether he shows up… Well, you can always send Apollo back to Olympus in the morning.”

“I’d best leave you alone then.” Percy smiled, hoping that Eros could read the gratitude on his face.

“Hey!” Eros pouted. “You’ve only just got here, why would you want to leave me on my lonesome?”

“Do you want me to summon a god you don’t want to see in your room?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Oh,” Eros wrinkled his nose. “I guess you have a point there, Starfish.”

“Thanks for the advice.” Percy smiled at him, backing away. “See you in the morning, Eros.”

“See you in your dreams!” Eros called as he closed the door behind him, earning an eye roll that Eros didn’t even witness. No worries there though, Percy was fairly certain that Eros would say or do something the next time he saw the god that would elicit the response once again.

“You’re back sooner than we expected,” Nico greeted him as he stepped into his own room, sat far closer to Will than he had been when Percy exited. His hair was messier too, as if he had been dragged through a hedge backwards. Unfortunately, Percy was fairly certain that there had been no hedges involved.

“Seriously?” Percy groaned. “I liked that rug.”

“What?” Nico tried to play innocent, batting his eyelashes at him. Percy was no fool, he was thoroughly immune to Nico’s puppy-dog eyes now. Well, mostly immune.

“You made out on my bedroom floor?” Percy huffed, rolling his eyes once again.

“No!” Nico protested. “Where in the name of Apollo’s sweaty quiver-”

“Nic, seriously?” Will wrinkled his nose. “Pick a different god to curse about, please.”

“I was trying to think fast!” Nico defended himself. “I don’t see you trying to convince Percy that we absolutely were not doing anything disreputable on his bedroom floor.”

“Oh no, how horrifying for him to realise that we were kissing in his room,” Will stated dryly. 

“Will!” Nico yelped. “You weren’t supposed to admit to it!”

“He’ll survive.” Will shrugged. “Congrats Percy, you’ve got one free pass to make out with my dad in Nico’s Cabin.”

“Why would I make out with Apollo in Nico’s Cabin of all places?” He blurted out before realising what the correct response was supposed to be. “Not that I want to make out with your dad!”

“Sure you don’t, Perce.” Will smiled angelically. “What did Eros say?”

Percy decided it would be for the best to take the out Will had provided. “Oh, he wasn’t very helpful,” Percy also decided it would be for the best to lie through his teeth. He figured that if Aether was as private as Eros made him out to be, he wouldn’t like an audience if he decided to show his face. “He said he couldn’t be sure of the name because of the amount of times he got kidnapped back in the day and I should wait until Apollo comes back to see if I have any more luck with him.”

“I’m sure you’ll have tons of luck with my dad.” Will coughed after speaking, trying and failing to hide a laugh. Percy narrowed his eyes at him. “Do you need us to stick around much longer then?”

“Go make out on your own rug,” Percy responded childishly, though he was secretly glad for the out they were giving him. 

“Thanks for the approval, big brother!” Will cackled, jumping to his feet and dragging a bewildered Nico with him. 

“I don’t approve of you in the slightest!” Percy called after them as they made for the door, knowing that they’d hear the humour in his voice. “You’re a terrible influence and I want you to stay at least six feet away from my little brother!”

“Night, Fish Food!” Nico waved over his shoulder as the door closed after them, leaving Percy glaring at the wood for a couple of long seconds before he turned his attention back to the diary on his bed.

He wondered for a moment if he should procrastinate further by trying to get to know the god he was about to summon, or if he should just bite the bullet and get it over with.

It was when he thought about having to read the gods awful handwriting that he decided to just get it over with.

Despite feeling a little stupid speaking to empty air, he raised his gaze towards the sky and started to speak. “Aether, god of the Upper Air, it’s me, Percy Jackson. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of me and I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of you, but I’d like to talk. Please?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard a demigod invoke that name,” A strangely familiar voice informed him and he gasped, spinning to see that he was no longer alone in his room.

He had company.

_ Familiar  _ company.

“You told me your name was Arthur!” Percy accused when he registered who was leaning against his bedroom wall.

Humour danced in the god’s green eyes, waltzing with flecks of gold. 

They were the same eyes Percy had looked into when Eros had asked after Aether. 

They were also the same eyes that Percy had looked into three years previous, when he had, apparently, first met Aether.

Aether held up his hands, an apologetic look on his face. “In my defence, you told me that your name was Harry.”

Percy flushed a little bit at the memory, an apologetic smile on his own face. “I did, didn’t I.”

“I knew exactly who you were back then, of course.” Aether grimaced. “I knew it wasn’t my business to haul you back to Olympus when you were obviously trying to avoid the gods for a reason. I highly doubt you expected to meet one in a Scottish University.”

“No.” Percy shook his head, thinking about the team’s trip to Scotland. It was one of the only trips they had made to Earth in the last five years for a reason. “I can’t say I did.” Then he remembered  _ where  _ he had met Aether and frowned. “Dude, why were you in a lecture about Greek Mythology? You’re like, the living embodiment.”

“I like to keep up to date on what the mortals think they know about us.” Aether shrugged. “I graduated last year with a First, the Professor who read my dissertation told me that I had a very keen insight. Anyway, I figure you didn’t want to talk to me about my academic ventures?”

“I didn’t even know that you were  _ you _ ,” Percy pointed out. “So no, I didn’t want to talk about your foray into student living, as interested as I actually am. Surprisingly, I enjoyed those three classes I got to attend before we found the sea monster.”

“Oh, the one that kept trying to drown the students?” Aether raised an eyebrow. “How did you fix that one?”

“Turns out Nessie wasn’t very happy about being released from her Loch,” Percy laughed at the memory of the very annoyed Scottish Legend. “We moved her home and she agreed to keep her antics strictly limited to teasing tourists.”

“That  _ almost  _ makes me wish that I hadn’t been pretending to be mortal.” Aether joined his laughter. “I knew that you had a reason for being there, I just didn’t realise that the almost-drownings were anything more than the other students being foolish.”

“You say that like I didn’t have to drag you out of the water.” Percy raised his eyebrows, reminding the god of the incident.

“I didn’t want to break my cover!” Aether defended himself, though his cheeks were turning a little pink. “I would have rescued myself if you hadn’t turned up!”

“So you were just pretending to be knocked unconscious too then?” Percy asked.

“…Yes?” Aether nodded, though it was clear he knew he was fighting a losing battle. “Rescuing me aside, can I ask why you wanted to talk to me?”

“I swear I was getting there!” Percy promised. “I just got distracted when I realised I actually knew you. I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again, especially not in this context.”

“You weren’t planning to show your face at the 10 Year Class Reunion?” Aether asked innocently.

“I didn’t plan to, no.” Percy shook his head, amusement colouring his tone.

“I wasn’t planning to either, don’t worry.” Aether grinned.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d show up here,” Percy admitted. He glanced at the diary that was still sitting innocuously on his bed, wondering how to explain to the god that he’d only summoned him because of a feeling. “I’m not even sure why I wanted to talk to you, if I’m being perfectly honest.”

Aether took a moment to look at the books scattered on Percy’s bed and the rug, crouching down to examine one of the ones that the lovebirds had been drooling over. “Do you think about me a lot when you’re reading  _ Prophecies of Impending Doom and How to Stop Them _ ?” He asked, stating the title aloud.

“How much do you know about the situation with Gaia’s demigod son?” Percy asked, figuring it would be the best place to start. 

“I’m not really one for gossip,” Aether confessed, looking a little sheepish as he straightened back up. “After I heard you were home, I made the executive decision to, well,  _ relax  _ my interest in current events. I figured I’d wait until I heard you’d disappeared again and then invest in the carnage left in your wake.”

“Hey!” Percy protested. “I don’t leave  _ carnage  _ in my wake.”

Aether levelled him with a flat look. “Kiddo, you’ve swept through life like a hurricane.”

“It’s hardly  _ my fault  _ that you lot can’t go fifty years without being the definition of ‘dysfunctional family’ in the dictionary,” Percy huffed. “It’s not like I  _ want  _ to get involved in the stupid amount of Prophecies that get thrown my way.”

“Y’know, I feel like I should object to being included in the ‘dysfunctional’ part of the family narrative,” Aether complained.

“If you want to be excluded from that narrative, you have to take back what  _ you  _ said about  _ me _ ,” Percy argued. “I’m not some hurricane of carnage! I mean, I can create hurricanes – that’s all thanks to y’know, my dad being the god of the sea and all – but I don’t intentionally leave destruction in my wake. I-”

“Percy, I know,” Aether cut him off with a sheepish expression on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like Zeus. In other words, a dick. If you haven’t already guessed, I don’t really get out much. Or speak to other people. Truly, I’m  _ terrible  _ at social interaction.”

“I never would have guessed,” Percy informed him dryly.

“Can we just ignore what a disaster I am and move forth?” Aether suggested.

“It might be for the best?” Percy agreed before he stopped and considered something. “Wait, how did you get through four years at university if you’re  _ this bad  _ at human interaction?”

“For some reason, you can be as weird as you want at University and everyone just accepts it.” Aether frowned. “I met mortals weirder than I, surprisingly enough.”

“That is surprising,” Percy couldn’t help but agree, hoping that Aether continued to take it in good humour. Percy wasn’t a massive fan of the idea of being smited.

“Where were we again?” Aether frowned.

“You were telling me that you’d stopped paying attention to current events because of the trail of destruction I leave in my wake,” Percy reminded him, voice deadpan.

“Again, my apologies.” Aether winced. “What was the question you asked that set me upon that path?”

“How much do you know about the situation with Gaia’s son?” Percy repeated his question from earlier.

“Oh!” Aether’s features lit up. “I remember now! Like I was saying, I heard you were back and figured I’d wait and catch myself up on everything at once; a plan that did not exactly, well,  _ go to plan _ .”

“So you do know what’s been going on?” Percy asked.

“Well, I know most of it.” Aether nodded. “Last I heard, you’d rescued whatever poor soul managed to get themselves kidnapped, captured the boy, and Apollo’s son was returned by the Fates, albeit reluctantly.”

“Do you know  _ who  _ was kidnapped?” Percy asked awkwardly, wondering if it was going to fall to him to reveal the answer. He couldn’t be certain how Aether was going to react; if his interaction with Eros earlier was anything to go off, he needed to be prepared for the reasonably chatty god to be replaced with a monosyllabic one that suddenly didn’t feel very helpful.

“I’ll admit that I’ve been fairly distracted since Apollo returned to break that news – I only know about Apollo’s son because he bribed Hermes into notifying every god on Olympus,” Aether chuckled.

“He did?” Percy raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. “I don’t know why I’m acting surprised if I’m honest, it’s a very Apollo thing to do.”

“Tell me about it,” Aether responded, voice fond. “He certainly makes an impression wherever he goes.”

“He does indeed,” Percy agreed before deciding to push the topic back to the issue at hand. “So, the god that was kidnapped.”

“Oh, yes!” Aether nodded. “I keep forgetting that you know, despite the fact you were literally there.”

“It was Eros,” Percy decided to take his chances and just blurt out the answer.

Aether opened his mouth to respond, his eyes wide, but nothing left his lips. He just stood still, looking visibly stunned before his jaw snapped shut and he nervously started to chew his lip. “Eros?”

“Yeah, Eros,” Percy confirmed tentatively, still unsure whether he was witnessing shock or anger.

“Is he okay?” Aether asked, tilting his head a little.

Percy just nodded. “He’s on the mend.”

“That’s…” Aether paused for a moment and Percy tried to discreetly take a deep breath. “…Good.” Percy exhaled. “That’s good news.”

“Apollo is waiting until he recovers a little more to return him to Olympus,” Percy decided it was safe to say now that Aether didn’t seem to be exhibiting any murderous tendencies. “He’s taken up residence in the room Apollo claimed when he accompanied us to Camp- You do know about that, don’t you?”

“He’s here?” Aether flinched a little. “Oh, and yes, I heard all about how Zeus decided to throw Apollo to the wolves.”

“Wolves?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, poor people skills again.” Aether grimaced. “Eros is here?”

“He’s the one who told me your name,” Percy decided to spill.

“What?” Aether frowned.

“Oh!” Percy realised that he hadn’t even gotten around to explaining where his desire to speak to Aether had originated. “You know how you asked if I think about you a lot while reading  _ Prophecies of Impending Doom and How to Stop Them _ ?”

“Yes?” Aether’s frown deepened slightly.

“I wasn’t reading that,” Percy informed him, taking a few steps and lifting up Aether’s diary. He felt quite awkward holding it when he was in the presence of its owner, especially when a ripple of recognition crossed the god’s face and his frown turned into confusion. “I was reading  _ this, _ ” He admitted, knowing his own expression would be rather sheepish. “I didn’t know who it belonged to, and I swear I only read, like, a random paragraph of it, so I didn’t read anything embarrassing – if you’re worried about that kind of thing, I’m not overly certain what you’ve got written in here. You also have  _ terrible  _ handwriting so I’m not overly certain that I’ve understood what I  _ have _ read.”

“It’s okay,” Aether responded faintly.

“I opened it at a random page and noticed that it was recounting the time you and Apollo had to rescue Eros, which Apollo mentioned when we rescued Eros this time around,” Percy continued his babbling explanation. “Thing is, Apollo didn’t mention your name and obviously since this is your diary, you weren’t talking about yourself in the third person. It is third person, right? My step-father is an English teacher and he’d be sad if I got that wrong.”

“Nope, you’re correct,” Aether reassured him.

“So then I realised that I could literally go and ask Eros your name because Apollo decided to take himself off to Olympus in a little hissy fit before for some reason,” Percy really hoped that he managed to make his point soon because this was extreme rambling, even for him. “So I did. Do that. I popped down the corridor, asked Eros who else helped rescue him with Apollo, and he said you. And he said that if I wanted to talk to you, to pray to you. So I did. Pray to you. Obviously, because you’re here now.”

“You talk a lot, has anyone ever told you that?” Aether regarded him with a slightly mystified stare.

“I babble when I feel awkward,” Percy admitted with a groan, gesturing to the diary he was holding with his free hand. “I feel bad for reading your diary!”

“Percy, chill, it’s okay,” Aether assured him. “I don’t mind, I swear. Can I just ask, why were you reading it?”

“Did I not explain that part?” Percy asked.

“No, I don’t think you did.” Aether shook his head. “Or you might have and I completely missed it.”

“Apollo and I questioned Nathan today,” Percy sighed. “And he told us some of Gaia’s plans and we decided it would be best to check and see if what he claimed was actually possible. Apollo was the one who provided the books, but he provided no explanation as to which ones I actually needed to look through.”

“Have you at least had some help with them?” Aether asked, crouching back down again and looking at a few of the titles.

“A little?” Percy shrugged. “It would be a lot more help if Apollo was here, since he actually heard what Nathan said, but he won’t be back from Olympus until the morning.”

“Is that the only thing you want from these books?” Aether asked gently.

“No,” Percy confessed, joining Aether on the floor.

It wasn’t something he had revealed to Will and Nico, wanting to let them retain their current state of happiness, but he’d also wanted to look through the books to find an alternative to the whole Camp having to go to war. Sue him, he’d seen war too many times in his life. He wanted a way to minimise the casualties, to limit the exposure to battle for those who had seen enough of it already and those who had never had to experience it in the first place.

“I want to find a back-up plan,” Percy admitted aloud. “Well, I want to find a Plan A so battle can be Plan B.”

“I can help with that,” Aether informed him, voice calm. “It appears there’s a method to Apollo’s madness; he probably threw my diary into the mix to remind him to contact me.”

“You’ve got experience with this kind of thing?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“I like to avoid people at all costs, Percy.” Aether smiled. “I’ve got methods to avoid war down to a fine art.”

He reached out and took his diary from Percy’s loose hold, smiling down at the faded leather binding and the speckled gilding that remained on the cover. Mirroring Percy’s actions from before, he traced the lettering and ran his hands over the binding. Unlike Percy, however, the diary responded to his touch more than just brightening the letters; the entire thing started to emit golden light, increasing until it was almost painful to look at before flaring out and extinguishing completely.

“Fun fact, Perseus.” Aether gave him a wicked look. “You found my spellbook.”

  
  



	58. Zeus Causes a Little Chaos.

Percy woke up slowly, ignoring the soft murmur of voices in the background in favour of discreetly trying to pull his covers closer to his jaw. It was a conscious choice to keep his eyes closed, hoping beyond all hope that Hypnos would lure him back into the realm of sleep. Typically, he could sleep through the sound of voices; used to trying to sleep through the sound of his team’s bickering when they were away on missions when every moment that could be used for sleep was sacred. 

Unfortunately, this particular morning, he wasn’t overly certain that he  _ could  _ continue to ignore the sound of two familiar voices.

Especially since he was fairly certain one belonged to his  _ dad _ .

It was with great reluctance that he opened his eyes and sat up, pushing the duvet down as he did. He shot the two gossiping gods a look that would have been dirty if it wasn’t for the fact the effect was ruined by a yawn.

“Morning, Perseus,” Poseidon greeted him fondly. He was one of the few people that Percy could tolerate hearing his full name from, one of the few people he was actually happy to hear it from. “Sleep well?”

“You drool in your sleep,” Aether informed him, an unimpressed look on his face.

“Believe it or not, I’ve heard that before.” Percy gave him a tired smile; he couldn’t help but wonder if the god had gotten any sleep, or if he’d spent the night curled up in Percy’s armchair reading. If the blanket lying on the seat and the books scattered around said chair were anything to go by, Percy was going to go with the latter. “Morning dad,” he gave Poseidon a sunny smile before realising that he should be asking  _ why  _ he was chatting with the one god he had expected to see when he woke up. “Why are you here?”

“You could pretend to be a little happier to see me, kiddo,” Poseidon teased, a twinkle in his eye. 

“Believe me, I am happy to see you!” Percy assured him swiftly. “I’m just a little confused as to  _ why  _ I’m seeing you.”

“Did Apollo not tell you last night?” Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

“Apollo didn’t tell me a lot last night,” Percy responded, unable to stop the bitter edge from leaking into his voice. “He just confused me. A lot.”

Poseidon winced, seemingly detecting the underlying tension. “Ah, did he make no mention of bringing the Council by to see Eros?”

Percy tilted his head to the side and thought for a moment before recalling the throwaway line of ‘ _ Eros is still refusing to return to Olympus until he regains some semblance of control over his powers, so I fear I must bring Olympus to him tomorrow, so please prepare him.’  _ from Apollo’s mystifying letter. “Oh,” he let out a sigh. “He may have mentioned something, but I didn’t realise it  _ was  _ something to be concerned about. I was too confused by everything else he was saying.”

“I hate to say it but that sounds like the Apollo we all know and love,” Aether pointed out.

“Yes.” Poseidon looked pained. “It really does.”

“The whole Council is here?” Percy asked, suddenly registering what Poseidon had said. It was like taking a shot of espresso, he was wide awake instantaneously. 

“Not yet,” Poseidon assured him, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “At the moment, it’s just myself, Apollo, and Hades who have arrived to forewarn you. I offered to wake you. Needless to say, I was a little surprised by the presence of your guest.”

“Oh, Aether?” Percy looked to said god, wondering what excuse Aether had given his father. “I needed his help with a couple of books Apollo dumped on me. We met a few years ago.”

“He informed me.” Poseidon nodded, twinkle back in his eye. “Nessie, Percy, seriously?”

“I told you about that!” Percy defended himself. 

“I know, I know,” Poseidon laughed. “I’ve lost out on five years of teasing you, it’s my fatherly duty to try and make up for as much of that as possible.”

“Why did I have to end up with the god that cares about his kids?” Percy asked playfully. “I could have had Zeus.”

“Now, Perseus,” Poseidon tried and failed to be stern, humour doing the waltz with the fondness in his eyes. “You know your Uncle Zeus loves his children very much… In his own way.”

“I was fully expecting thunder to roll then,” Aether laughed. “He must be distracted by something.”

“Zeus usually never fails to have a dramatic reaction to comments about his parenting style,” Poseidon mused, a small frown appearing on his face before he shrugged it off. “Some poor soul must be out there questioning his dramatic tendencies and having their bones shaken by the thunderous response.”

“Speaking of, when will the rest of the Council be arriving?” Percy asked, wondering how much time he had to mentally prepare himself for yet another morning of bickering. Unfortunately, he knew from past experience that the Olympian Council would be worse to manage than his team. For one, they could all summon their weapon of choice in a blink of an eye, so asking Zeus to leave his Master Bolt in the Cabin’s armoury would be a pointless exercise. It was a tactic that rarely worked with his team, he severely doubted it would work for the Council of the Gods.

“You’ve got plenty of time before they descend upon us,” Poseidon assured him. “Take your time.”

Some time later, after Percy had hastily fled into his bathroom to shower and change, he followed Poseidon and Aether downstairs. He couldn’t help but feel a little mystified by the easy conversation that was flowing between the two, Poseidon coaxing the shyer god into talking as if it was second nature. It made him smile, seeing his dad use his fatherly spider senses for good.

However, the moment they reached the bottom of the stairs, Percy’s attentions were drawn elsewhere.

“Oh good, you’re up,” Luke greeted them from where he was leaning in the doorway of the lounge, not bothering to shift his gaze from where it was fixed on the closed door of the War Room. “We figured we’d let you handle whatever the fuck is going on in there.” Luke punctuated his sentence by gesturing to the door.

“TRAITORS DON’T GET COFFEE,” Apollo’s muffled yell was perfectly timed, though it didn’t explain why Luke was looking positively gleeful. It only served to confuse Percy more.

Though, it wasn’t hard for Apollo to confuse Percy.

“Dare I ask?” Percy directed at Luke, hand poised on the handle. 

“I think it would be for the best if you just went in and asked for yourself.” Luke shrugged. “Sunspot seems… Well. Maybe you should just go in and find out.”

“Are you joining us?” Percy asked.

Luke let out a bark of laughter. “You’re on your own with that one, buddy.”

Percy decided to bite the bullet and opened the door, not knowing what to expect when he stepped over the threshold.

“Oh thank the gods, you’re here,” Nico breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him, though the comically bored expression remained on his face as he slouched in his seat across from Apollo. 

Apollo was the exact opposite; tense and frowning, unimpressed waves radiating from him. He didn’t even smile when he saw Percy, with his frown deepening slightly and the edges of his mouth becoming significantly more downturned. Percy didn’t know whether he should be mildly offended, or if he should just attribute Apollo’s bad mood to whatever they’d walked into.

“Morning?” Percy greeted Apollo, Nico, Will, and Hades with uncertainty in his voice. “Dare I ask what we’ve walked into?”

“Apollo is upset because he’s incapable of knocking,” Nico informed him dryly.

“No, Apollo is upset because he had to see you sticking your tongue in his son’s mouth,  _ again, _ ” Apollo complained.

“Which you wouldn’t have seen if you had, y’know,  _ knocked _ ?” Nico rolled his eyes as he protested. “And I didn’t even have my tongue in his mouth!”

“Nope,” Will agreed, a smug expression on his face. “I had  _ my  _ tongue in  _ his  _ mouth.”

“You’re a terrible child,” Apollo declared.

“I’m  _ your  _ terrible child,” Will retorted. “It’s your example I’m following.”

“Well, stop following!” Apollo huffed. He turned his attention back to Percy in the doorway that clicked shut as Aether finally stepped into view beside Poseidon. After making awkward eye contact with Percy, his gaze slid over the two deities in an almost absent manner - as if he wasn’t looking  _ properly _ . A frown deepened on his face as he looked over their shoulders to the closed door, as if expecting it to open and someone else step inside. Then, his gaze slid back to Percy’s company and his eyes grew wide.

The god was out of his seat in a blink of an eye, throwing his arms around Aether before anyone could take a breath.

“What in Zeus’ name are you doing here?” Apollo asked when he released his fellow god, having constricted all air from his lungs.

“In all honesty, I’m not too sure,” Aether laughed. “Poseidon asked me the same thing when he popped in to wake Percy.”

Apollo blinked at him, his gaze flickering between Aether and Percy as confusion crawled its way onto his face. “Wait, what?”

“Well, since you apparently dumped a ton of books on the poor demigod – one of which was my diary – he figured he needed a hand to sift through the information,” Aether informed Apollo, a teasing edge to his voice. “So he figured why not get it directly from the source?”

“You didn’t summon the god when we were in the room?” Nico tilted his head slightly, a frown on his face.

“Nope, I waited until you’d gone to kiss in your own room to summon the god.” Percy nodded, knowing that the subtle dig would set Apollo off again.

“You left them unsupervised?” Apollo scowled at him.

Percy rolled his eyes. “They wouldn’t have been unsupervised if you hadn’t decided to whisk yourself off to Olympus on such short notice,” he retorted, wanting to hear Apollo’s honest argument for departure.

“Well, I didn’t want to intrude.” Apollo folded his arms over his chest. “How is your girlfriend anyway, I figured she’d be the one following you into the room instead of Aether?”

Percy blinked at the sun god very slowly, wondering if he should actually dignify him with a response. He genuinely didn’t know what Apollo’s sudden problem was; they’d literally discussed Percy’s desire to reignite the friendship that he’d used to share with Annabeth down in the Labyrinth. …Hadn’t they? He wasn’t even completely sure why Apollo seemed so irritated by the prospect. Perhaps, Percy tried to reason, the god had enjoyed having someone single around – someone single that hadn’t been dating his son before his untimely death.

There was another feeling curling in his stomach, one that he elected to ignore for the time-being. There was a time and a place to figure out what that feeling was, and he knew that now was  _ not  _ that time.

Unfortunately, his mouth didn’t quite agree with his brain as he looked around the room and registered that Eros hadn’t joined them yet. “How is your boyfriend, anyway?” He mimicked Apollo. “Still upstairs?”

“What in Zeus’ name is going on in here?” Eros himself picked the perfect time to flounce into the room. “There’s more tension rolling out of here than the Council Room when Zeus has stuck his  _ other  _ Master Bolt where it doesn’t belong  _ again _ .”

“Morning Eros,” Hades greeted him, unable to keep the unmistakable glee out of his tone. “You’re looking well.”

“Is that your way of saying I have Persephone’s eyes?” Eros batted his lashes at Hades, drawing an actual laugh from him. “See, I  _ think  _ my powers are coming back but I don’t really have the best audience to test them out on. Everyone here has  _ feelings  _ already.”

“Even me?” Aether spoke up unexpectedly, voice soft.

“Oh, hi Aether,” Eros greeted as he sauntered over to Hades. It was when who was actually speaking to him registered that he dropped into the seat that Apollo had vacated and stared at him, blue eyes wide. “ _ Aether _ ?”

“You look awful,” Aether informed him; acting oblivious to the fact that Eros’ jaw had dropped, his expression gobsmacked. “I heard what happened, despite my best attempts not to, and Percy filled me in on some of the major details, but I wasn’t expecting you to look so  _ terrible. _ ”

“And here I was, thinking you’d hit me the next time you saw me,” Eros stated dryly, apparently having recovered enough to bite back. “This is worse.”

Aether blinked at him, confusion covering his face before it gave way to an apologetic grimace. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” the god sighed. “I was trying to express my shock, I promise. You didn’t even look this bad when Apollo and I had to haul you out of that cave those mortals were torturing you in.” He paused for a moment before considering what Eros had just said to him, screwing his face up slightly in confusion. “Did you just say that you thought I was going to  _ hit you _ ? Why?”

This time, it was Eros who looked confused. “I rather hate to remind you, out of fear it’ll incentivise you to follow through with it, but do you not remember the last we saw of one another? You threw a candelabra at my head and vowed to throw one that was aflame the next time our paths crossed. And, well, since they’re rather fallen out of fashion, I figured you’d resort to hitting me instead.”

“Eros, I-” Aether started before sighing and shaking his head. “I don’t think we should be having this discussion in front of the present audience.”

“How about we all sit down and have a nice, normal adult conversation?” Poseidon suggested in an attempt to change the subject, trying to usher Percy towards the table. “Like a nice, normal family. Because that’s  _ exactly  _ what we are.”

“Brother, who are you trying to fool?” Hades chortled from beside Eros, the pair of them looking at Poseidon with matching raised brows. 

“My sanity,” Poseidon responded plainly, sending Percy to sit beside Nico with a gentle nudge. Poseidon himself rounded the table and sat on Hades’ other side, leaving only Apollo and Aether standing. 

“Sanity?” Hades snorted. “In our family?”

“It’s hardly a foreign concept, Hades.” Poseidon rolled his eyes before sighing. “Though, I suppose, you do have a point.”

“Speaking of, when’s the rest of our ‘nice, normal family’ due to arrive?” Apollo asked, wandering towards the table slowly. He eyed the spot beside Percy before moving to take the seat beside Eros, face dropping when head realised that they were directly opposite one another. Percy, being extremely mature and very grown up because he was in no way feeling hurt, folded his arms and pointedly turned his head so he was looking towards his father. 

“As interested as I am about the arrival of the rest of the Council, I just want to clarify one thing with Aether before Poseidon sets a time for our impending doom,” Eros piped up, staring resolutely at said god. Percy had a feeling that his father wouldn’t be issuing an answer before Eros received his. “You’re not going to hit me?”

“No, Eros, I am not going to hit you,” Aether responded in an exasperated tone as he slid into the seat beside Percy. Despite the fact that Percy was trying to look away, he could see Apollo’s expression out of the corner of his eye and he wondered what caused the sudden frown to overtake the playful grin that had settled on his face during Eros’ whining. “If I planned to, I would have done so already.”

“Yeah, that still isn’t doing anything for my fight or flight response,” Eros warned.

“It seems that you should join my club then, since not knowing when the rest of the Council is going to rock up in activating mine,” Aether bit back. “So, Poseidon, if you would like to answer Apollo’s question now, I’m sure Eros will cease from interrupting?”

Eros opened his mouth to respond before he realised that Aether was trying to hint for him to keep it closed.

“I figured I’d be able to answer eventually,” Poseidon just sounded amused, shaking his head slightly as he eyed the primary troublemakers in the room. “I’m well aware of the hazards involved in trying to hold a coherent conversation with Eros and Apollo in the room.”

“I used to wonder if our terrible attention spans were just a demigod thing,” Will remarked dryly. “Further evidence shows that they’re inherited.”

“I really must protest on behalf of myself and the majority of the Pantheon,” Hades was quick to step in. “Though in the case of your father, I think you may be correct in that consensus. If it weren’t for Perseus, I think he would have gotten bored and left your Quest permanently.”

“Hey!” Apollo protested. “I would have gone back to check on Nico, you know I would never abandon my little Shadow.”

“You once left me on a beach in Australia,” Nico deadpanned. “I was there for two days before you remembered that you needed to come and get me – and that’s only because I prayed to you and told you that I’d Shadow Travel to the Underworld and tell my dad.”

“We agreed we’d never bring that up again.” Apollo’s eyes went wide, frantically looking between Nico and Hades.

“Sorry, you left my boyfriend  _ where _ ?” Will was the one who raised his voice, looking at his father with an incredulous look on his face.

“Oh gods above, I forgot I’d have to contend with you again,” Apollo groaned. “Hades, if you want to yell at me too, please get on with it.”

“Well,” Hades looked Nico up and down, “I can’t deny that he needs more sun.”

“I’m glad we agree,” Will nodded.

“This is doing your hypothesis about attention spans no favour,” Aether informed Will, a smile quirking at the corner of his lips. “Poseidon  _ still  _ hasn’t managed to answer the question we asked him.”

“At this rate, I was expecting the rest of the Council to arrive before I managed to answer,” Poseidon responded dryly. “And I feel like I should take the opportunity to warn you all that they’re due any minute now.”

“You told me that I had plenty of time!” Percy complained, realising that he probably should have grabbed breakfast instead of stepping into the room that radiated crazy. He didn’t particularly fancy facing Zeus on an empty stomach, knowing it could potentially be hours before he could make his escape and pillage the pavilion for food.

“You did, before you spent more than half an hour in the shower so the water would wake you up,” Poseidon reminded him. “I’d almost forgotten how long it takes you to join the land of the living in the morning.”

“Did you try bribing him with food or coffee?” Nico asked. “That usually works pretty well for me.”

“It used to be my primary tactic when he used to stay under the sea, but I didn’t bring either offering this time around,” Poseidon sighed. “Though I really should have.”

“When you say that they could be here any minute, do you genuinely mean any minute or do I have time to go and grab a slice of bread or something before they rock up in an hour?” Percy asked, trying to gauge his chances of eating that day. 

“A slice of  _ bread _ ?” Poseidon asked incredulously. “I sincerely hope that you usually have something more substantial for breakfast, Percy. Despite running the risk of sounding like my sister, I must say that breakfast  _ is  _ one of the most important meals of the day.”

Across the table, Apollo took an obnoxious sip of a freshly conjured Frappuccino in order to gain Percy’s attention. Incapable of ignoring him for long and reacting to the unexpected interruption, Percy looked.

Apollo gestured to the matching drink in front of Percy, and the chocolate muffin that sat beside it, refusing to make any sort of eye contact that wasn’t with the wall over Percy’s shoulder.

It felt like it was supposed to be an apology but Percy wasn’t sure what he wanted Apollo to be apologising for. He also knew that if he started to eat or drink, it would be a sign that he was accepting said apology. And he wasn’t strictly sure that he wanted to.

“Thanks,” he decided to acknowledge it, all eyes in the room on him. He was well aware that some of the gazes, such as those of his father and his uncle, were oblivious to the double meaning of Apollo’s act; while those in the know, such as Nico and Will, were watching on to gauge how receptive he was to Apollo’s possible apology bribe. He was also well aware of the fact that he could be reading too much into a simple gesture. A muffin could simply be just that; a muffin.

“Oh so you’ll get Percy breakfast but you make me ask my dad to get Alecto to go on a McDonald’s run for the rest of us?” Nico huffed, thankfully speaking up and diffusing some of the silent tension in the room.

“Don’t take it personally, Jolly Roger, Apollo-”

“ _ Jolly Roger _ ?” Nico cut Eros off with an incredulous look on his face before the god could even finish whatever inane remark he was in the process of making.

“The infamous skull and crossbones? No?” Eros winced. “That didn’t work as well as I thought it would, I will admit. It seems I’m a little off my game.”

“I wonder why,” Apollo commented innocently, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from the god he was apparently teasing.

“You can’t talk,” Eros hissed in retaliation.

Percy took the opportunity to start picking apart and eating the muffin while Apollo was distracted, placing a chunk of it in his mouth just as the door opened.

Zeus walked in with a smile on his face and Percy almost choked on a chocolate chip.

“Ah, brother, we were just discussing when you’d be arriving,” Hades greeted cordially. He remained unflinching in the face of Zeus’ good humour, contrasting with the raised eyebrows that Poseidon was currently sporting beside him. “Are the rest of the Council due shortly?”

“Indeed!” Zeus responded. “They’ll all be along shortly. Thankfully Hera was able to get out of her previous engagement so she  _ will  _ be joining us. I was worried that she would have to miss it.”

“Sorry, who are you and what have you done with my brother?” Poseidon blurted out. “Are you not the same Zeus that was praying to the rest of the Pantheon this morning, hoping that Hera would be too busy to attend?”

“Ah.” Zeus’ smile froze on his face for a moment before he let out a booming laugh and shook his head. “I can assure you Poseidon, all remarks made about my wife were made in jest. Of course I wanted her to attend.”

“Ah,” Poseidon nodded in understanding. “She heard you and threatened to kick you to the couch if you dared say another bad word.”

“I know not what you speak of,” Zeus responded, though it was clearly a yes. “Is this table big enough for us all?”

Poseidon raised his eyebrows once more at the abrupt subject change, though he wasn’t surprised by it in the slightest. He didn’t respond verbally; instead he clicked his fingers and a gentle sea breeze passed through the room, ruffling Percy’s hair lightly in the same way Poseidon ruffled his hair himself. When everything settled, the table they were seated around was slightly larger and rounded instead of oval, the seats all uniform and matching instead of the mis-matched bundle that they’d had to hastily assemble in the last few days.

“Happy?” Poseidon drawled. “Or do you wish to summon your throne from Olympus?”

“No,” Zeus sniffed. “I suppose this will do.”

“High praise, brother, high praise,” Poseidon replied mockingly as Zeus slid into a seemingly random seat. It left the King of the Gods an equal three seats away from both Apollo and Will and Percy didn’t quite believe that it was a random choice given the look of distaste that Zeus had given almost every other seat; especially those that contained a person beside them.

And when Zeus took a proper look around the table, his expression of distaste momentarily flickered into one of unidentifiable origin at the sight of Eros and then once again when he looked upon Aether. Percy wasn’t even overly certain of what he had witnessed, it was gone in the blink of an eye and he entertained the possibility that his eyes were just playing tricks on him. There was a very valid chance that Percy had just seen the only amount of surprise that Zeus could display, his face contorting slightly when he had to use muscles he usually tried to freeze. 

“Lord Zeus,” Eros greeted him, a terse smile on his face. Percy could tell just by looking at him that he was uncomfortable, fiddling awkwardly with the pendant around his neck. The gemstone was barely visible between his white-knuckled fingers, a small splash of blue that matched the skies on Olympus. He seemed to come to his senses swiftly when he realised that there were several pairs of eyes going to said pendant, tucking it back beneath his shirt and acting as if he hadn’t been holding on to it for dear life mere moments ago.

“Eros,” Zeus responded blandly, speaking to the recovering god as if it were a chore. “How do you fare?”

“There’s nothing better for the soul than a little kidnap and torture every once in a while,” Eros responded, heavy on the sarcasm.

“Apollo said that you were having trouble regaining your powers?” Zeus ignored his statement, continuing on as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

“Things are coming back in bits and pieces,” Eros’ tone was light, despite the flash of hurt in his eyes; eyes that closely matched the colour of the pendant now hidden beneath his shirt. “Small things, like my ability to display the characteristics of a loved one. I’m still struggling to identify the romantic ties between one soul and another; the strings of fate tangled and grey instead of vibrant and singing.”

“Aphrodite will be glad when you can return to your duties,” Zeus sniffed before turning his attention to Aether. “I didn’t expect to see you here, Aether.”

“My assistance was required to translate a healing text for Apollo.” Aether didn’t even flinch as he lied to the King of the Gods as easily as he breathed. “Poseidon insisted that I attend to even the numbers.”

“Morning, god squad!” Hermes walked through the door before Zeus could say another word. “And godly spawn!”

“You are worse than my brother,” Artemis informed him as she followed, punctuated with a gentle shove that sent Hermes flying halfway across the room.

“Hi Arty, I love you too,” Apollo huffed.

“I say it out of love, you idiot.” Artemis rolled her eyes in response. “Note that I said, ‘worse than’? I didn’t specify how bad you are, though I could if you wish?”

“No need,” Apollo assured her swiftly.

“Where’s my hello?” Hermes complained; taking the seat next to Apollo, poking his shoulder as he did. “I feel neglected, old buddy, old pal.”

“Yes, yes, I was getting to you.” Apollo gave Hermes a bright smile, a direct contrast to the look Percy got upon arrival. “Hi, Herm.”

“ _ Thank you _ .” Hermes grinned. “Hi ‘Pollo, how’s tricks?”

“The pair of you are insufferable,” Artemis declared. She strode over to where Will was watching his father with an amused look on his face, unaware of her presence until she clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t die again Will, depression is not a good look on my brother.”

“I’ll try not to!” Will promised, his voice one octave off being classed as a squeak.

“Good,” Artemis patted his shoulder. “Try harder than last time.”

Will breathed a sigh of relief when she removed his hand, though his eyes went wide when he realised she had only removed it to place on the back of the chair beside him before she drew it out and sat down. 

“How long until the rest of the rabble arrive?” Hades asked.

“Rabble?” Persephone teased as she swept through the door. “I’ll remember that comment later.”

“My darling!” Hades practically lit up. “Of course I didn’t mean you, I didn’t even know you’d be in attendance!”

“Poseidon insisted and mother reluctantly agreed,” Persephone responded as she rounded the table, throwing her arms around Hades as he stood to greet her.

“Don’t be preposterous, Persephone, there was nothing  _ reluctant  _ about my acquiescence,” Demeter huffed from where she was taking a seat on Zeus’ left, leaving one spot between herself and Hermes. 

“Allow me,” Poseidon slipped from the seat he had taken beside Hades to allow Persephone to sit beside her husband, moving along one to facilitate it. 

“Thank you,” Persephone acknowledged gratefully, sitting with her hand intertwined with Hades’ atop the table.

Moments later, Athena and Hestia entered the room together, splitting to sit beside Poseidon and Artemis respectively. There were murmured greetings, the majority of attention fixed on the doorway as they waited for the remaining missing gods.

“Eros!” Aphrodite shrieked delightedly when she entered, a flash of golden curls as she swept swiftly around the table to envelope said god in a tight hold before he had a chance to even blink. “Oh my darling boy, I am  _ so _ sorry!”

Behind her, Hephaestus and Ares had tried to walk through the door at the same time and both had comically hit the frame and gotten slightly stuck.

“Your hair is in my mouth,” Eros responded, voice muffled by said hair. 

“How are you feeling?” Aphrodite cooed; pulling back and pressing the back of her hand to his forehead, as if she was testing his temperature. “You don’t normally run this warm, do you?”

“You know me,” Eros chuckled, reaching up and gently lifting her hand away. “Too hot to handle. I’m fine, Loveheart, ”

The smile on his face was clearly false, but it was apparently enough to placate Aphrodite who straightened up and stepped back. She looked around the table and let out a noise of sheer joy when her eyes fell on Percy’s side.

“Aether!” Aphrodite squealed, arms around the other god in the blink of an eye.

“Aphrodite,” Aether greeted, awkwardly patting the arm that was tight across his chest.

When Aphrodite released him, she sat beside him and laid a hand on his bicep. “How have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you for  _ centuries _ !”

“No, no, it was only a decade or so ago,” Aether responded, still tense and unsure. “I’ve been well.”

“Good to hear,” Ares grunted from where he had slid into the seat beside her, largely unnoticed. 

A scowling Hephaestus had taken the seat between Athena and Ares, frown turned upside-down when Athena swiftly worked to engage him in conversation.

“Ah, Hera, dearest!” Zeus greeted as his wife entered the room, the Queen of the Gods managing to disguise her temporary look of surprise with a perfectly practiced smile. “I was worried that we would have to start without you.”

“I’m sure you were,” Hera responded crisply, taking the seat between her husband and Hestia. She looked around the table, face not moving a muscle as her eyes tripped over both Eros and Aether. She leant forward, slightly past Zeus so she could look at the remaining empty chair between Hermes and Demeter and sighed. “Where is Dionysus?”

“Present and accounted for,” the god himself strolled into the room, garish leopard print shirt offending Percy’s eyes almost as much as the horrifically tight, grape-coloured running shorts that left  _ nothing  _ to the imagination. Percy wondered if they had any bleach in the cleaning cupboard.

“This is  _ your  _ Camp, how are you the last one here?” Hermes asked as Dionysus lazily flopped down beside him.

“It’s hardly like I  _ want  _ to be here, is it now?” Dionysus rolled his eyes. “I had to make sure that the little brats wouldn’t cause too much havoc during breakfast.”

“You also have  _ egg  _ on your face,” Artemis pointed out, distaste clear in her voice. “On your chin.”

“I was saving it for later,” Dionysus joked, wiping his chin with the back of his hand before wiping said hand on his running shorts. 

“That’s totally rad,” Ares laughed. “Great idea.”

“That’s disgusting.” Aphrodite wrinkled her nose.

“Of course, I was just kidding,” Ares swiftly corrected himself.

“Children, please,” Zeus sighed. “Settle down.”

“What’s this in aid of then?” Ares asked. “Cherub over there looks pretty alright to me and Jackson has managed to make Wispy come down from his mountain and join the common folk for whatever reason.”

“First and foremost, this meeting is to discuss the advancement of Gaia’s forces and her plan for war,” Zeus informed him. “And I too, as the King of the Gods, have a very important announcement to make.”

“War?” Ares perked up. “Why didn’t one of you punks just tell me that before? I would have worn my lucky battle underwear instead of my normal red.”

Percy wanted to let his head connect with the table.

“Now  _ that’s  _ a mental image I never wanted or needed,” Apollo spoke his exact thoughts, shuddering to demonstrate his revulsion.

“Oi!” Ares huffed. “I never whine about your good luck charms.”

Apollo rolled his eyes as he reached for a familiar necklace, gently holding it between his thumb and forefinger. “Yes, because  _ my  _ good luck charms are  _ normal _ .”

“Children!” Zeus chided again before Ares could answer back.

“I forgot what meetings with the Council were like,” Eros’ voice was slightly faint.

“Same,” Aether echoed the sentiment.

“Apollo filled us in on the events of your rescue,” Athena aimed at Eros, a curious expression on her face. “But told us very little about the circumstances of your capture and your period of captivity.”

“Ah.” Eros shrank back a little in his seat, looking to his right for support.

“I couldn’t give insights that I didn’t know.” Apollo gently patted his arm as a gesture of comfort. “Otherwise I would have disclosed all of the necessary details and leave you with a simple case of answering questions about your current state.”

“Ugh, I guess it was my own fault,” Eros sighed. “I should have told you everything when you asked me to.”

“Instead of whining about it? Yeah, you should have,” Apollo responded, voice sickly sweet and obviously sarcastic. “Your stubbornness knows no bounds.”

“We’re well aware of that,” Aphrodite huffed.

“ _ Rude _ ,” Eros scowled at them both.

“So, how did you find yourself in Gaia’s hands?” Athena interjected, clearly trying to shift the discussion back to where it was supposed to be headed.

“Oh, well, it’s rather embarrassing really,” Eros sighed. He looked around the table for some sort of sympathy or assurance that he didn’t have to go into detail if he didn’t want to, but found nothing. He sighed dramatically again before continuing. “I was set up. Trapped. Betrayed. Befuddled-”

“Lovebug?” Apollo cut him off. “Shut up and tell us what happened.”

“You’re no fun when we’ve got an audience,” Eros complained.

Percy passive-aggressively took a loud sip of his drink, hoping that the two wouldn’t go off on another tangent. The soft grumbling from his right, where Aether was sitting with his arms tightly folded across his chest, made it clear that he wasn’t on his own with his sentiments.

“Just tell us what happened?” Apollo pleaded, shaking his head and ignoring their side of the table.

“ _ Fine, _ ” Eros huffed. “They bribed the hot European Prince that I was having a minor flirtation with to invite me  _ rose picking.  _ When I arrived at the pre-agreed location, the only roses I saw were the ones tattooed on the bicep of the Laistrygonian Giant who picked me up by the ankle – who crushed it, by the way - and asked if he could nibble off my toes because I had  _ pretty feet _ .”

“Funny, Twinkletoes,” Ares snorted. “Now tell us how they actually kidnapped you.”

“…I think he just  _ did _ ,” Hermes responded, breaking the awkward silence that had followed Ares’ laughter. “I mean, he did warn us that it was embarrassing. And, well, he was right to warn us if that’s how they actually managed to get him.”

“I was ill prepared!” Eros tried to defend himself. “I was hardly expecting to end up on my back because of an oafish idiot. No, I thought it would be caused by-”

“We don’t need to know,” Apollo cut him off hastily. “Seriously. We don’t need to know.”

“You’re no fun,” Eros whined again. “Anyway, after they managed to subdue me – which took them quite a while, thank you very much – they dragged me  _ by the hair  _ through the little bit of woodland that they’d lured me to and down into the Labyrinth. I knew there and then that I had landed myself in some Styx; for a while I pondered the concept of a  _ really bad  _ break-up, but it quickly became apparent that I’d fallen prey to something more sinister.”

“How did you know it was the Labyrinth?” Ares asked.

“How many other Mazes that sprawl beneath the earth’s surface do  _ you  _ know of?” Eros raised a perfectly manicured brow. “I may be an airhead at times, but I’m not  _ stupid _ .”

“Point taken, let’s move on,” Apollo swiftly intervened before Ares could get the retort out of his open mouth.

“Where was I?” Eros pondered.

“They took you into the Labyrinth?” Athena prompted.

“Yes, that’s where I was.” Eros nodded. “Quite literally, actually.”

“Yes, we established that,” Dionysus sighed, voice filled with boredom. “Get on with it. Some of us have bothersome children to go and strangle. I mean, wrangle.”

“Pollux and Castor will be hurt if they heard you refer to them in such a manner,” Percy couldn’t resist the opportunity that Dionysus presented. 

“ _ Percy _ ,” Poseidon warned. “Tease Dionysus later. It’ll turn into a team sport and we want Eros to finish telling us what happened  _ before _ sunset. It won’t happen if he’s too distracted and we know Apollo would only enable the pair of you.”

“Now, Uncle P, that sounds like a load of…” Apollo trailed off, looking across the table and intentionally meeting Percy’s eyes for possibly the first time that day with a wicked smile on his face. “What’s that phrase you and Baby Herm like?”

“Lies and slander?” Percy answered; unable to keep his amusement from leaking in voice, no matter how annoyed he was pretending to be with Apollo.

“Sounds about right,” Apollo responded gleefully, following up with a wink before turning his attention back to Poseidon. “Lies and slander, Uncle P, lies and slander.”

“You will be the death of me one day,” Poseidon deadpanned. “Eros, please continue before Apollo succeeds in driving me to an early grave.”

“If I was actually trying to drive you to an early grave, you’d know about it,” Apollo complained.

“Apollo, I say this with the utmost sincerity; there are many things about you that I am currently choosing to ignore for my own sanity and peace of mind, but the fact that you are attempting to send me on a one-way trip to spend eternity with my brother is something I am intimately aware of,” Poseidon sighed. “No offence, Hades, spending eternity with you is sometimes a rather appealing prospect.”

“None taken,” Hades’ tone was mild, clearly trying to suppress laughter at the sight of the horror in Apollo’s eyes.

Percy wondered what terrible thing his dad was choosing to ignore about Apollo.

“Can I continue now please?” Eros pouted. “I haven’t been the centre of attention for more than five minutes and I don’t like it. Pay attention to me. I have important things to say.”

“For the love of me, will you please just get on with it then?” Zeus snapped, massaging his temples. “It’s bad enough having to listen to you on a good day, let alone having to listen to the rest of this rabble  _ and  _ have to actually pay attention to you.”

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Eros raised an eyebrow at the King of the Gods. “Gods,  _ someone  _ woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“And here I was, thinking he’d be in a good mood because it wasn’t  _ our  _ bed that he was in last night,” Hera sniffed delicately.

“I think  _ now  _ would be a good time for you to start talking,” Hades stage-whispered to Eros. “Please?”

“I agree!” Eros nodded swiftly. “So, the Labyrinth! The Labyrinth… Where was I?” 

“They’d just dragged you by the hair to the Labyrinth and you realised that you were in Styx,” Aether supplied helpfully, Eros flinching at the unexpected response.

“After literally  _ dropping me  _ down the hole and almost breaking my other ankle, they saw fit to drag me every which way they could; taking me in circles and backtracking to confuse my sense of direction,” Eros explained, taking Aether’s input in his stride. “I didn’t have the heart to tell them that they could have led me straight to the place they planned to hold me and I wouldn’t have a clue how to get back anyway. I’m terrible with directions.”

“What happened after they took you to Gaia?” Artemis asked. “You can skip all of the boring parts and regale the interested parties with them later.”

“Sometimes I think Apollo is the meaner twin, but you prove me wrong every time,” Eros huffed. “Anyway, when we finally reached our destination, the Holy Dirt Face herself told me that she wanted me to bend to her will or something equally as stupid and that she wanted me to work for her. I told her to eat dirt, which she didn’t seem to like, so I got a little bit tortured.”

“And then?” Aphrodite asked, a look of concern on her beautiful features.

“I got a lot more tortured.” Eros shrugged. “For four years. And then one day, the door opened and I saw the prettiest faces I’d seen for a long time.”

“That’s it?” Ares frowned. “Four years of torture and captivity and that’s all you tell us? C’mon, Cherub, I wanna hear the nitty gritty details.”

“I certainly don’t,” Zeus interrupted, a familiar look of annoyance on his face. “I think I’ve heard enough. I’ve certainly  _ seen  _ enough.”

“Look, we all know that you haven’t had a good opportunity to whip out the good ol’ Master Bolt and put it to use as of late; but there’s a time and a place to pull it out and give it the attention it deserves and this isn’t it.” Eros held up placating hands. “You called this meeting, Lord Zeus. As insufferable as you find my voice, you’re the one who wanted to listen to it. I was perfectly happy staying here, in this happy little Camp and recovering my strength. I told Apollo all I know about Gaia’s invasion plans, there’s nothing more that I can say that he hasn’t already told you.”

“You think I wanted this meeting to talk to  _ you _ ? To talk about the  _ war _ ?” Zeus rolled his eyes as he sneered. “Oh no, Eros, you just gave me the perfect excuse to band the Council together outside of Olympus. To take us away from prying eyes as I do something that should have been done long ago.”

“Brother, where is this sudden madness coming from?” Poseidon stood up in sync with Hades, facing the god of thunder who had risen to his feet as he had “You have been adamant about checking in with Eros since Apollo sent word of his recovery.”

“Madness, Poseidon?” Zeus laughed. It was unnerving, a sound that didn’t quite belong to him. “I highly doubt you will think this  _ madness  _ when you realise that this will benefit you most of all.”

“ _ What _ ?” Poseidon frowned.

Zeus’s hands shimmered gold, a laurel wreath of the same colour appearing in them. “The Crown of Olympus’ King. How long have you coveted this, brother?” He looked up, twirling the wreath between his fingers. “Do you still want to be King, Poseidon?”

The room was silent, barely even a breath to be heard. The gods were all frozen in their seats; though their eyes flickered between the Big Three, all filled with fear and curiosity caught in a twisted tango.

Percy’s heartbeat felt as if it was thudding in his mouth by the time Poseidon managed to lift his jaw from where it had landed on the floor and answer Zeus with a clear and concise, “No.” 

“No?” Zeus looked momentarily taken back. “Come brother, don’t lie to me now.”

“Why would I want your crown?” Poseidon asked. “Why would I  _ want  _ your position? Once upon a time, I would understand the question, but why  _ now _ ?”

“After all of the things I have done to you in recent memory?” Zeus hummed. “I wanted to murder your son, on multiple occasions, for one. I almost instigated war between us because I refused to look at the bigger picture, and I let you think that Perseus was dead when I knew exactly where he was.”

Percy couldn’t help but frown, wondering what felt  _ off  _ about Zeus. Other than the clear issues he was already aware of.

“I still don’t understand why you think I would want your crown,” Poseidon responded calmly. “I have my own Kingdom to rule. I might have wanted your crown once, but that was because you were doing an  _ awful  _ job.”

“Hades, what about you?” Zeus acted as if Poseidon had remained silent, clearly unhappy with the answer he had been given. “Would you take my title?”

Hades stared at Zeus, expression stormy. “I-”

“I don’t know why I bothered to ask, I already know the answer,” Zeus scoffed, cutting Hades off before he could even properly begin. “ _ Of course  _ you’d say yes. Why wouldn’t you? You’ve craved acceptance from the rest of us for years, taking my position would give us no choice but to include you, to make you feel as though you actually belong. That’s all you’ve ever wanted, right? To be able to crawl from the depths of the Underworld and into the inner circle, to finally feel as though you’re truly one of the greats?”

“ _Zeus_ ,” Poseidon snapped, outrage written plainly on his face. “Have you gone insane? Listen to yourself, _where has this_ _come from_?”

“Dear Poseidon, this may be one of the most sane things that I have done in a long time,” Zeus responded with a laugh and a shake of the head. “You’ll be happy about it eventually.”

“Happy about  _ what _ ?” Poseidon asked.

Zeus simply smiled in response, his eyes beginning to glow with a harsh white light; similar to that of a lightning strike. It only increased in intensity, to a point where it was beginning to pain Percy’s eyes to look.

“Look away!” Apollo yelled from across the table, sheer terror in his voice.

Just before Percy tore his eyes away, Zeus opened his mouth and began to speak. It wasn’t a language that Percy had ever heard before, not even  _ close  _ to one of the many he’d come into contact with during his travels. If Percy had not seen Zeus’ mouth open before he’d had to look away, he would have thought that it was somebody else speaking. It was a deep, unearthly chant in a voice that didn’t belong to the body it was being spoken from.

Fury started to unfurl in Percy’s chest.

Before he could dare look up, before he could dare say a word, the ground began to shake and the heavens opened above them; thunder rolling and lightning flashing as sheets of rain tried to drown the earth’s surface and make land become sea.

Then, aside from the sound of the weather outside the window, the room went silent.

“All Hail Poseidon,” Zeus’ drawl told Percy it was safe to look. He didn’t like the sight before him; his father collapsed into his seat, face pale beneath the Laurel crown upon his brow. There was a look of genuine fear in his eyes, warring with the shock and the surprise that was also visible. “The new King of the Gods.” 

  
  


The silence that followed was long and likely would have spanned the majority of a page if their lives were to be written within the binding of a book. The rest of the Council were clearly gobsmacked, all silent and still; none of them wanting to be the first to speak.

“What have you  _ done _ ?” Percy rose to his feet, wanting nothing more than to slap the god before him. “Are you an actual  _ moron _ ?”

“Percy!” Apollo hissed softly, apparently not wanting him to land himself in more trouble than they were already in.

“I thought you’d be happy, no?” Zeus raised an eyebrow and Percy couldn’t stop the noise of anger that escaped him. “Your father is now the King of the Gods, I thought you’d be happy. Anything you ask, Poseidon will deliver.”

“ _ Happy _ ?” Percy repeated incredulously. “You think I’m  _ happy  _ that you decided to go on a little power trip and take the King of the Gods for a joyride and fuck up many millennia of established rule? This is, quite frankly, one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen you do and I’ve seen you do some stupid schist.”

“Is anyone else feeling a little confused?” Eros stage whispered. “Did I just sustain a blow to the head and miss a few minutes? Aether didn’t hit me, did he?”

“ _ I’ll _ give you a blow to the head in a minute,” Hermes muttered. “Shut up for a second, I think Percy is about to throw hands.”

“Please  _ never  _ say those words again,” Apollo pleaded softly before clearing his throat and speaking a little louder. “Um, Percy, could you maybe spell things out for the idiots in the room?”

“That’s not Zeus,” Athena beat him to it.

With a ripple, Zeus’ face melted away.

Chaos stood before them, raising his hand and wiggling his fingers in a cheeky wave. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have done that in front of the demigod who was most equipped to identify me.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have done that at all,” Percy bit back, every ounce of his displeasure showing on his face. “Undo it.”

“Ah.” Chaos grimaced. “Can’t.”

“What do you mean, you  _ can’t _ ?” Percy yelled the last word. “You made this mess, you can damn well fix it!”

“I’m afraid that the little spell I used… took a lot out of me?” Chaos shrugged. “And anyway, I’m not wholly convinced that I could remember the counter-spell on command. I had a hard-enough time trying to remember the one I used to perform the switch, especially with Chatterbox over there not knowing the definition of the word ‘succinct’.”

“I take it back,” Percy snapped. “This is unequivocally  _ the  _ stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

He ignored whatever Chaos was about to say, whatever excuse he was about to give, and made for his dad. “Dad?” He asked softly, Poseidon’s eyes not-quite managing to focus on his face. “Dad, it’s me.”

“My Percy,” Poseidon acknowledged softly, dropping his hand down for Percy to hold. “My boy.”

“Yeah dad, it’s me,” Percy responded, heart-aching when he compared this version of his father – overwhelmed by the sudden influx of power – to the one that had been laughing and joking with him barely an hour ago. It was like Poseidon had reverted to the Poseidon that Percy had encountered on his first day back on Earth - but  _ worse _ . So much worse. “How are you feeling?”

“Like Zeus decided to use the Master Bolt as a bat and my head as the ball,” Poseidon laughed weakly, trying to squeeze Percy’s hand. “What has the idiot done to me?”

“Not Zeus,” Percy assured him, knowing full well that the now-former King of the Gods would have never gone through with what Chaos had enacted. “Chaos.”

“I think we need to have strong words about the gods you’re spending time with,” Poseidon grumbled. “I don’t want this accursed crown.”

Percy looked up, looking Chaos dead in the eye. “Could you teach my dad whatever incantation you just used so we can fix this mess ourselves?”

“Perseus, I don’t think Poseidon is up for even tying his own shoelaces right now, much less performing a power transferral that has exhausted even the Creator of the Universe,” Hades spoke up, though his voice was strained and the smile on his face was clearly forced.

“Hades, my brother.” Poseidon tried to push himself up straighter in his seat, though he refused to release Percy’s hand to do so. “You know that none of us think that, don’t you?”

“Think what?” Hades rearranged his expression to one that was carefully blank, Persephone placing a comforting hand on his bicep. 

“You know what, I scarcely want to repeat it,” Poseidon sighed. “You belong on this Council, you  _ are  _ one of us. And I’m sorry I never advocated for it sooner.”

“Now is not the time for this discussion.” Hades shook his head, removing his eyes from Poseidon and staring at Chaos with all of the disdain that Percy was currently holding in his chest. “Is it Zeus’ body you inhabit or is our brother elsewhere and unaware as to why his power has suddenly been crippled?”

Chaos winced. “Perhaps I did not think this through to the extent that I thought.”

“Where is my husband?” Hera asked, voice shaking with rage and upset. “And how long have you been wearing his face?”

“Fear not, My Lady, I have not done anything untoward to you while wearing your husband’s face,” Chaos assured her. It didn’t seem to do any good. “It is why Zeus did not join you in bed last night, I had to catch him in the few hours he was alone after the late meeting with Apollo.”

“Where is he?” Hera demanded. “I swear, if this causes long-lasting harm to either of them, you’ll have to answer to me.”

“You’ll find him in your bed,” Chaos answered quietly, having the sense to let her threat go unchallenged.

“We need to go back to Olympus immediately,” Hera declared, looking at the rest of the silent gods. “If anyone would like to object, wait.”

“We can’t just  _ go _ !” Apollo objected.

“We have to,” Hades sighed. “As much as I hate to say it, we have to. Olympus will be in disarray, Poseidon is in no fit state to do anything and I have no doubt that Zeus is in the same condition. We cannot fight in this battle when we are in a battle amongst ourselves.”

Percy’s heart dropped to his stomach.

He’d been banking on having the gods to back him up, to have them there on the battlefield with him instead of Campers who had never seen war and the Campers that had seen too much of it. He’d been holding out hope that their combined force - his team, those willing to fight, and the gods - would be enough to hold out against Gaia.

Plan B was looking less and less like a last resort and more like the plan they were going to have to run with.

“I can’t just come back to Olympus and sit in meeting after meeting on how to fix this, not when I can barely say a word in contribution. I can’t,” Apollo shook his head. “We came here under the impression that we wouldn’t be leaving until whatever fight comes our way, that we’d stand by the sides of our children and fight. I can’t abandon my children to a senseless fight, not when my presence could be the difference between them living or dying. I’ve just got Will back, I can’t lose him again.”

“You’d be foolish to stay,” Hera sniffed.

“And I’d be even more foolish to go,” Apollo answered back. “The rest of you can go, I don’t care. I’m staying where I belong. Right here.”

“As am I,” Aether informed the other gods. “I may not be one for fighting, but I cannot, in good conscience, leave these demigods to stand alone.”

“I’m staying too,” Eros joined their small rebellion. “I know that it probably won’t come as a surprise in comparison to Aether, but I’m staying. I may still be regaining my powers at a snail’s pace, but I don’t need to be able to see the strings of Fate as I’m battling monsters. These demigods have grown on me and even if they hadn’t, I would still owe them massively for rescuing me when nobody else knew that I was missing.”

“Expect no further aid from Olympus,” Hera warned. “Not if this battle occurs in the forthcoming week.”

“You’re not staying?” Nico aimed at Hades, speaking for the first time in a long time. There was betrayal written all over his face, anguish over the fact that Apollo was standing with them and Hades was turning his back.

“Nico,  _ mio figlio _ ,” Hades sighed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The god of the Underworld looked away as Nico’s expression crumpled, coming to stand on Poseidon’s other side and addressing Percy. “I’ll get Poseidon to send word as soon as he is in a better state.”

Percy reluctantly let Poseidon’s hand slip from his as Hades helped him to his feet. Athena gently touched his shoulder, moving him out of the way so she could help support his father. 

“Triton will come,” Poseidon promised. “Triton will come and help. As will I.”

Percy just nodded, the words he wanted to say a tight lump in his throat. He didn’t want to speak, not wanting to risk sounding as upset as he truly was.

“If you change your mind-”

“I won’t,” Apollo cut Hera off before she finished. “If  _ you  _ change  _ your  _ mind, you know where to find us.”

Percy closed his eyes on a room full of gods and reopened them to the sight of four.

“Perseus,” Chaos started immediately, before he could say a word.

“No,” Percy stopped him before the god could say anything more, holding up a hand to stop him. “I don’t want to hear it. Do you realise what you’ve just done?”

“Perseus, I-”

“You’ve just deprived us of our one true shot at a victory that would have lacked any unnecessary bloodshed,” Percy ignored his attempt to speak. “These Campers have either seen too much war or have never seen war at all. And I didn’t want to be the one to ask both parties to stand and face a threat bigger than any we have seen before. I wanted to fight with my team, with the  _ volunteers _ , side by side with the gods. And you’ve just ruined that, for what? To ruin many millennia of established power? To bring Olympus to her knees  _ for  _ Gaia? You’ve even taken yourself out of the game!”

“I-”

“I don’t think I can listen to whatever justification you try and give right now, because I know that nothing can actually justify what you’ve done today.” Percy shook his head, looking Chaos in the eye. “Everything that happens in the next few days is on you. All of the pain, all of the suffering – the violent deaths and the world at war, it’s on you. And I hope you revel in the chaos of your creation.”

“For what it’s worth, I  _ am  _ sorry,” Chaos informed him softly, creating a portal with a careful wave. “When you’re not as angry, call for me.”

And then there were three.

“I feel like anything we say or do now may be a little anticlimactic after that,” Eros broke the silence. “Maybe Aether  _ should  _ throw something at me, just to liven things up a little.”

“Will you  _ stop  _ with that before I actually commit to it? I’m not going to hurt you Eros, no matter how convinced you seem otherwise.” Aether rolled his eyes. “I’ll be the first to say that I wasn’t expecting any of that.”

“I didn’t have ‘The Creator Poses as Zeus to Promote Poseidon’ on my Bingo Card,” Eros whistled, clearly choosing to ignore the first half of Aether’s declaration. “I don’t think anyone did.”

“Dad, are you okay?” Will asked, a slight amount of panic in his tone.

All eyes went to Apollo, who promptly sat down heavily on the nearest chair. Percy took a few steps towards him, frowning when he got close and realised that Apollo was shaking. He unthinkingly reached out to touch before aborting the gesture, not knowing if it would be welcome.

“You’re shaking?” He voiced his concern instead.

Apollo gave him an equally shaky smile. “It’s nothing Bluebell, just the ancient magics that bind me to the Council going haywire as they try and reprioritise my father and my dear uncle.”

“All of Olympus are no doubt being impacted by it.” Aether demonstrated for Will and Nico by raising a hand that had a slight tremble to it. “But those on the Council will be worse-off. A few hours and the rest of us will be fine. Apollo will be as right as rain by dawn.”

“Feeling okay?” Percy asked softly, his attention centred on Apollo. “Eros is finally out of your bed, you can go and lie down if you have to.”

“I’ll fare better with company, Seashell,” Apollo assured him. “And I know I’ve got no hope of stealing you away so remain down here I shall.”

“Do you think Chaos said what he said to my dad because it’s what the Council actually thinks?” Nico asked, drawing everyone’s attention. The expression he wore was troubled and Will was swift to press himself against Nico’s side and wind an arm around him.

“No,” Apollo responded sharply. “No, none of us think anything of the sort. He was only saying it to get a reaction.”

“Chaos doesn’t know where to draw the line at times,” Percy sighed, hating that he was having to defend him when he was so angry with his actions.

“No shit,” Eros snorted. “I think we all saw that demonstrated well and truly today.”

“I thought-” Aether began to speak before wincing and rubbing his head. “No, my apologies. Ignore that, I was mistaken.”

“Are you alright?” Eros asked gently. “I’m not overly certain about my prospects of catching you if you were to pass out. Maybe you should take a seat as well? I don’t want you to fall to the floor.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I fell in your vicinity,” Aether huffed out a soft laugh before rubbing his head once more. “Do you have a headache or is it just me?”

“I have a headache,” Apollo piped up.

“We know, Apollo,” Eros responded.

“My head hurts,” Apollo added.

“We know, Apollo,” Aether repeated Eros’ words.

“Just like old times,” Eros sighed wistfully. “When all we would hear is the sweet sound of Apollo complaining in the background. And, yes, to answer your question, I do have a headache. But I think that’s more from the ‘having to recover from torture’ thing than whatever the Erebus just happened.”

“Head trauma aside-”

“I have a lot of trauma.”

“ _ Head trauma aside,  _ no, Nico,” Aether firmly continued despite the interruption. “I don’t think any of the Council truly believes what Chaos was saying. I’m not one for gossip, unlike  _ some  _ people in the room, but I am well aware of the fact that many have privately held the opinion that Hades should have been installed in an extra place on the Council long ago.”

“I was one of those people,” Apollo admitted. “I just had to stick to that status quo. You start trying to express an opinion at times and all you get is ‘no, no, no, stick to the stuff you know’ and it becomes hopeless. Over the years, you don’t even realise that people have come around to the same way of thinking and you’ve given up on discussing it.”

“I just wish that he had stayed,” Nico admitted. “I could tell it bothered him and I don’t like seeing him like that.”

“He’ll come back,” Apollo declared. “And he won’t be the only one.”

“You really think so?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“I  _ know  _ so, Percy,” Apollo assured him. It was strange hearing his name from Apollo’s lips, but it helped cement Apollo’s sincerity. He truly believed in what he was saying.

“We can’t just wait around for people to come back though,” Percy pointed out, as reluctant as he was to do so. “So what do we do until then?”

  
  



	59. Apollo Despises Certain Metaphors.

There was a long pause that followed Percy’s question, his company looking awkwardly at one another in the hopes that someone else would answer.

“I think the logical answer would be that we will have to have another meeting with the Counsellors and some of your lot to try and figure out what in Chaos’ name we’re going to have to do now.” Apollo was the one who finally answered him with a sigh. He dragged a hand over his face and gave them all a defeated look. “Though all I want to do right now is go for a nap and hope that this is all resolved when I wake up.”

“I thought you said-” Percy started, frowning at Apollo and shaking his head before starting again; deciding to take a softer, more conciliatory approach instead of just blurting everything out. “You can go and lie down, you know?” He purposefully held Apollo’s gaze, trying to search for answers within the god’s eyes - eyes that were now a veritable match for the sky of the screaming storm outside the window. Gone was the blue of a sweet-summer's day, a stormy blue with striking grey clouds taking its place. It felt strange to see, with Percy absentmindedly wondering if Apollo’s eyes were a window to the skies as well as his soul, before realising that Apollo was holding his gaze because he was waiting for Percy to finish speaking. “None of us would begrudge you. I know you said about preferring company, but-”

“Percy, darling, I really am fine,” Apollo assured him, swift to soothe his worries. “If I begin to feel at all faint, you’ll be the first to know, and I wholly expect you to catch me should I fall.”

Eros started to mutter something beneath his breath, earning a sharp dig to the ribs from Aether before Percy could distinguish the love god’s exact words.

“I don’t want you fainting on me,” Percy warned. “Not if you can help it.”

“Well, I-”

Apollo stopped talking when the door was flung open, a familiar face rushing in with a wild look in his eyes. 

“What in Zeus’ name has happened to my father?” Triton asked, chest heaving. It was clear that he had just been running; long waves of ink-black hair spilling out of its normal ponytail, untamed, windswept and tangled when he was usually meticulous about combing out knots and tangles. It was also clear that he’d had to transform from his two-tailed form in a hurry, now dressed in a black and white Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts, shoes nowhere to be seen on his bare, bronzed feet. He also, most obviously, wasn’t green. He looked to Apollo and Percy with a desperate expression on his face, pressing a hand to his heart and shuddering. “I can feel it, here, that something has shifted, something has changed. But I can’t quite tell what. The sea is raging against the sky and Zeus’ power feels different.”

“Did Dad tell you what he was doing today?” Percy asked, figuring it was the only place that they could and should start. 

“Dad hasn’t been home since you arrived back from your Quest,” Triton deadpanned. “He’s been stuck in meeting after meeting on Olympus. He warned us in advance that we probably wouldn’t be seeing much of him. I didn’t realise that we wouldn’t be seeing  _ any _ of him.”

“I have a feeling that may have been my fault,” Eros sighed, holding his hands up in an apology. “Unintentional, I swear.”

“Well nobody gets kidnapped on purpose, Sherlock. Well, aside from you - back when that used to be Aphrodite’s preferred method of setting you up with people. Going to guess that this wasn’t planned though?” Triton rolled his eyes at Eros before looking him up and down. “Glad to see you’re looking alright though, I was beginning to think that we’d never see you again.”

“You noticed I was gone?” Eros frowned. “And it was never willing back then, either!”

“I had to listen to your stand-in worry about you disappearing on him,” Triton responded with a shrug. “None of us realised that you’d been kidnapped. The general assumption was that you’d show up out of the blue one day and say you and your harem lost track of time.”

“I feel flattered that you think my stamina is that impressive,” Eros laughed.

“I never said that I agreed with the general assumption,” Triton huffed, folding his arms and looking back up at Percy. “Now that Airhead has proven he’s just as irritating as he was four years ago, do you fancy telling me what happened to Dad?”

“Look, I’m going to have to pull my team and the Counsellors in to tell them as well,” Percy explained with a sheepish smile. “So are you good with the short version for now?”

“I’ll take  _ any _ version right now, Percy,” Triton pleaded. 

“Chaos possessed Zeus and had him relinquish the title of King of the Gods to Dad,” Percy blurted out the simplest form of the truth. 

“I take it back,” Triton responded faintly. “I think I need the long version.”

Percy sighed. “Can you give me-”

He stopped when there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Will spoke before anyone else could, already the closest to the door anyway. He walked over and opened it, revealing a nervous looking Icarus on the other side.

“Sorry to interrupt-” Icarus did a double take when he actually stepped into the room and realised that it was far emptier than expected. “Oh,” he bit his lip. “I don’t seem to be interrupting much.”

“Gods almighty,” Triton whispered softly. While he had paled as if he had just seen a ghost, there was a sentiment of joy in his eyes; a look of soft wonder on his face as he gazed at Icarus, as if he was seeing the face of someone he had never thought he would see again.

“Tri?” Percy asked carefully, a little concerned by his elder brother’s outburst. 

He looked to Icarus to see if he held any answers, but the son of the inventor just looked confused, head tilted to the side and a small frown marring his brow. He was frowning at Triton, eyes narrowed as if he was trying to place his face. 

“Tri?” Icarus looked to Percy.

“Icarus, this is Triton,” Percy introduced them, feeling as if it was the only thing he could do. “My brother. Well, half-brother, but we don’t really mention the ‘half’ part anymore. Triton, this is-”

“Icarus,” Triton cut him off, testing the name as if it was the first time he’d ever spoken it aloud. “I know.”

“You know my name or you know me?” Icarus asked, head still tilted in confusion.

“Which would you prefer?” Triton asked, face suddenly guarded. 

“Though it might just be your resemblance to Percy and the rest of the Sea Squad, I feel like I know you. Even though I know that we’ve never met.” Icarus shook his head. “Not in this life at least.”

“And in your last life?” Triton raised an eyebrow, surprisingly making no comment about Icarus’ mention of the others. Percy wasn’t entirely sure how Triton would react to seeing some of their other siblings in the flesh again, even if he already knew about Bellerophon. He probably wouldn’t like their father’s attention being divided even further. Afterall, he’d only begrudgingly started to accept Percy’s existence when Poseidon had insisted it was time for them to get along.

Icarus bit his lip, looking troubled for several long beats before he sighed. “I don’t really remember much of my past life. I didn’t even get to live through two decades,” he confessed. “And it’s not like I was going to social events and meeting new people every weekend; I was confined to a tower with my father for the majority of my years and then, on the day that I thought I was finally going to be free, I died before I could do any of that.”

“I know,” Triton repeated, though this time it was in a different tone. A sadder one, a soft and wistful smile spreading across his face as he shook his head.

“Apparently everybody knows, it was one for the history books,” Icarus let a hint of bitterness seep into his tone. “I’m a cautionary tale now, a reason why people shouldn’t fly too close to the sun.”

“Once again, my sincere apologies.” Apollo winced.

“It was hardly your fault, Apollo.” Icarus rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you control the temperature at which wax melts. Or the temperature of the sun itself.”

“You wouldn’t have flown so close if it wasn’t for me though,” Apollo reminded him gently, voice weak. “I should have realised. I could have done something.”

“You couldn’t have done anything,” Icarus sighed. “Nobody could have.”

Triton let out a soft noise of upset, his face clouded with guilt. It was also clear that the noise was involuntary, if the sudden blush that coloured his cheeks was anything to go by. “If someone had tried, would you want to know?”

“Tried what?” Icarus frowned.

“To rescue you?” Triton prompted.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, Percy suddenly intimately aware of where this was headed.

“I know that nobody did,” Icarus sighed, shaking his head. “Who could? It was the middle of the ocean, it’s not like there was anyone around that could have even tried.”

“Oh,” Apollo had apparently come to the same conclusion as Percy. “Icarus, you may want to rethink that.”

“What?” Icarus’s frown deepened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You fell into the arms of the sea,” Percy repeated the same words that Icarus had used so often to describe his demise.

“I fear that it may be a little more literal than you recall, Icarus,” Triton admitted the truth. There was silence, a sudden tension crackling in the air that felt as though it would explode if disturbed by a single breath. An age-old myth was unravelling before them all, the true details being exposed in live technicolour. “You didn’t fall into my arms, no, not straight away. I was nearby though, when you fell.”

“What?” Icarus repeated, slightly strangled. He looked as if his whole world was crashing down around him. Percy supposed that it was, in a way.

“I didn’t think I was going to get to you in time,” Triton forged on, face apologetic and body tense. “It felt like I was swimming against the tide, even though it goes where I please. When I finally managed to get to you, you had just lost consciousness. I had to rip what was left of the wings off before I dragged you to the surface; they were a dead weight and were doing more harm than good, I could see how they were aggravating the burns on your skin. When we got to the surface, I was hoping you’d come round but you were just gone. The tide carried us to the nearest shore and no matter how much air I tried to breathe into your lungs, how much water I forced from your stomach and airways, I couldn’t do anything.”

“What?” This time, Icarus barely managed a whisper.

“And then I was suddenly seeing green,” Triton continued, meeting Icarus’ bright eyes. “And then you were breathing on your own accord. Well, breathing is a generous description. You were coughing, mostly. I thought you’d brought all the water up when you stopped; I’ve never had much experience with mortals, see? Only the demigod children of my father, and they aren’t exactly known for drowning. I told myself that I’d take you to the nearest mortal population as soon as you could stand straight but you were weak and I didn’t want to risk it. Even though I should have.”

“I don’t remember any of this,” Icarus couldn’t keep the distress from his voice or from his face, finally managed to string together a sentence that was longer than a singular word. 

“I didn’t think you would,” Triton sighed before pausing and reconsidering what he had just said. “I didn’t think we’d ever be having this conversation. On account of the whole…” Triton awkwardly waved a hand up and down Icarus’ body. “Dead thing.”

“I don’t understand,” Icarus’ confusion was clear. “I drowned. That’s how I died. I drowned. Didn’t I?”

“If we were to ask Thanatos to get technical about it, ‘complications after drowning’ would likely be the reason on your death certificate,” Triton admitted, ducking his head and refusing to meet Icarus’ eyes anymore. “I tried, I really did. I just didn’t realise that you still had fluid in your lungs.”

“What happened?” Icarus asked, voice quivering.

“I think it would be for the best if I kept the details to myself, ” Triton sighed, looking back up and giving him a sad smile. “I’d rather not be the cause of any painful memories resurfacing. It may be for the best that you don’t remember what happened.”

“No, please,” Icarus insisted, taking tentative steps toward the sea god. “I want to know what happened to me.”

“Are you certain?” Triton asked.

“Yes!” Icarus nodded.

“Would you prefer it if we left the room?” Percy offered, feeling terrible for interrupting when it was as if they had forgotten that they weren’t the only ones in the room – despite it being the reason why he was offering.

“I’d rather you stayed,” Icarus responded swiftly, sending Percy a pleading look. “I don’t think I can listen to this by myself.”

Percy just nodded.

“I should have listened to my instincts and taken you to the nearest mortal population, whether you could stand or not. Scylla, I should have taken you straight to Apollo or Asclepius and asked them for aid,” Triton continued on as if they hadn’t been interrupted. “You kept insisting that you felt fine, that you were just a little shaken and that your low body temperature was ‘normal’ when I should have known better. You seemed to be recovering well! We were on a high one minute and the next… The next you were collapsing in my arms and telling me that you couldn’t feel your legs anymore. You started coughing again and you couldn’t, well… You could hardly breathe. You left me as the sun set on the horizon.”

“Oh,” Icarus responded softly, face pale and swaying ever so slightly.

“Careful,” Aether warned, moving to guide Icarus into the chair that Eros had yanked from beneath the table, working in tandem to catch the legacy before he fell. 

Again.

“I can only apologise for not doing more.” Triton bowed his head ever so slightly. “And I’m sorry that I didn’t manage to save you when the Fates gave me the opportunity.”

Icarus looked at his with wide eyes, seemingly at a loss for what to say before he sighed and shook his head. “No, you don’t need apologise, not to me.” He looked contemplative for several beats, slowly debating his next words. “You tried to save me. And it’s quite probably the kindest thing that anyone did for me in the later years of my life.”

“You probably don’t want the reminder, but…” Triton held out his hand and waited for his trident to materialise before stepping forward and kneeling before Icarus, placing the trident across his lap. “After I lost you, when I dove back beneath the waves, I knew that I never wanted to forget you – even if I knew that I’d never tell another soul what happened on that beach.” He pointed to the shaft below the prongs, to where gleaming bronze feathers had been shaped and bound to the weapon. Percy couldn’t help but let out a small gasp, having seen the weapon many times in his life and never once realising the significance of the design. In a way, it matched Icarus’ own weapon, with the handguard of a bronze wing with its individually welded feathers mirroring the feathers on the shaft of Triton’s trident. “I stole a few of the feathers,” Triton stated the obvious. “And I affixed them to the shaft myself.”

“These are from my actual wings?” Icarus asked; reverently hovering his fingertips over them, but not quite touching.

“These are from your actual wings,” Triton confirmed, gently laying his free hand – the one that wasn’t helping balance the trident – on top of Icarus’ and pressed his fingers the rest of the way.

“Oh,” Icarus whispered. “I never thought I’d see them again, in any form.”

“I’ve got more of the feathers,” Triton admitted. “Under the sea. Ones that I didn’t use, obviously. It would take me a little while to find them, but I’m fairly certain that I remember where I last saw the box they were in.”

“Really?” Icarus lit up slightly. “They were beautiful, even I have to admit it.”

“I’ll dig them out,” Triton promised. “Just, perhaps, after everything has calmed down?”

“I would never expect anything else,” Icarus assured him.

“Oh!” Eros let out a delighted shriek, causing all eyes to go to their resident love god.

“Eros?” Apollo raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay or do you need to make another loud noise that’ll hurt my head?”

“Sorry!” Eros flinched, unusually shrinking under the attention. “I just thought, for a second, that something had come back to me. I think it was just a trick of the light though, when was the last time the bulbs in this room were changed?”

“I’m not sure, actually, you’ll have to ask Luke,” Percy humoured Eros’ obvious attempt to change the subject.

“Speaking of, weren’t you supposed to be calling a meeting?” Apollo asked, gently tugging on the hem of Percy’s t-shirt in order to get his attention. “Sorry,” he gave Percy an apologetic smile when he looked at him with wide eyes. “Needed to get your attention somehow.”

“Styx, I was,” Percy realised, glad of the reminder. He brushed off the apology with a wave of a hand and gave Apollo a warm smile. “Thanks, Sunshine.”

He eyed Nico and Will, knowing that asking either the gods or Icarus to help him round up the Counsellors would be a lost cause.

“Need a hand rounding up the rabble?” Nico offered, seeing the look on his face.

Percy just nodded.

“Everyone here?” Percy asked from where he was sandwiched between Apollo and Luke, everyone tightly packed around the table. He was internally cursing his terrible decision-making skills, despite knowing that it was his own fault for being so stubborn that he was stuck wearing his mask and cloak again after getting so used to not having to bother. He was the only one in the room still hiding his identity, the rest of his team having given up long ago.

“I’d say so,” Nico answered from a couple of seats down. 

Percy scanned the table to make sure that there was nobody missing, frowning when he realised that there was a notable absence. “Where’s Kayla?”

Beside him, Apollo let out a small cackle of laughter.

“My sister and the rest of our siblings informed me that none of them would be assuming the position of Cabin Seven’s Head Counsellor since I’m ‘perfectly capable and alive enough to be doing it myself’,” Will answered his question. 

“We all saw it coming, Sunspot, don’t pretend to be surprised,” Clarisse snorted from across the table. “You were Cabin Seven’s Head Counsellor again from the minute you stepped out of the grave.”

“Technically it was the minute we pulled him out of the campfire and he started breathing again,” Luke pointed out.

“Eh, semantics.” Clarisse waved a hand.

“Oh yeah, let’s just skip over the details of how I was resurrected.” Will rolled his eyes.

“Glad you were the one who said that, honey,” Nico joked, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek to punctuate his sentence. “It means we can get to the important stuff.”

“You know, we may be sleeping in your room but I can sure as Erebus kick you to the couch,” Will threatened, though he couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice. “But yeah, let’s skip to the important stuff.”

“Is that my signal to start talking or do you two need another minute?” Percy asked, trying to stifle his own laughter.

“I think it’d be best for you to start talking before Nico digs himself a deeper grave,” Apollo suggested softly.

“What’s going on then?” Clarisse asked, eyes fixed on Percy. “What’s happened since yesterday?”

Percy sighed, not really knowing where to begin. His head was a mess, desperately trying to order his thoughts and stop himself from pursuing hapless contingency plans. “It’s been… It’s been a rough morning,” he told the truth with only a moment’s hesitation. “Our meeting with the Council took an unexpected turn.”

“Is that why Apollo looks like he’s wishing for death?” Thalia asked, eyeing the god with a critical eye. “Or is he just hungover?”

“Wishing for death and a hangover are usually mutually exclusive, Sparky,” Apollo groaned from beside him and Percy winced, wishing that Apollo hadn’t been so stubborn about sticking around for the meeting. “But unfortunately, I’m just wishing for Thanatos to take me after the events of this morning. No hangover to speak of.”

“What happened this morning?” Annabeth asked, clearly concerned.

“Yeah, you’re going to have to start on the explanations soon because I’m out of the loop too, Bloofus,” Luke poked him in the side, making him flinch away. “You’ve not told me Styx.”

Unfortunately, it made him flinch into Apollo; an action that made the sun god let out a soft hiss when disturbed, causing panic to rise in Percy’s chest.

“Schist, sorry, are you okay?” Percy fussed.

“I’m fine, Bluebell, no need to worry your pretty little head,” Apollo soothed. “Don’t mind me, carry on with our lovely audience.”

Percy nodded, accepting the answer for what it was; a blatant lie, but not one he was willing to call Apollo out on. He turned his attention back to the table; ignoring the knowing looks that they were on the receiving end of in favour of shooting Triton a pleading look, hoping his brother would get the message and start being the pain in the ass that Percy knew and begrudgingly loved.

“I’m still waiting for a proper explanation as to what in Zeus’ name happened with our father this morning,” Triton apparently got the message, drawling his response from where he was sitting between Icarus and Aether.

“Our father?” Theseus spoke up.

“Wait, is that Triton?” Orion asked.

“Who did you think it was?” Bellerophon groaned from between them. “Zeus’ personal beard trimmer?”

“Sorry, did you just say that something happened to Poseidon this morning?” Annabeth asked, looking at Triton like he had just grown a second head before looking at Percy. “Blue, is everything okay? Do you need to go and be with Poseidon?” 

Percy wanted to wince at the small intake of breath that came from the god beside him; it was an unwelcome reminder about Apollo’s peculiar assumption that he wanted to resurrect his old relationship with Annabeth, one that Percy had wanted to dispel ever since. He was regretting letting his pettiness overrule now, he didn’t like people making the wrong assumptions about his relationships; he knew from experience just how badly things could go wrong.

“Everything is not okay,” Percy responded when he realised that people were still waiting on answers. “Which is exactly why I had to ask all of you here, to explain what’s going on. Because the events of this morning affect us all.”

“I think you’re just going to have to come out and say it, Sea Prince,” Eros sighed. “You’re doing yourself no favours by building it up.”

“I’m just trying to put it into words!” Percy defended. “It’s not something that’s exactly  _ easy  _ to explain.”

“So just say it,” Luke pushed. “Say it, let it sink in, and then explain it.”

Percy grimaced. “Chaos possessed Zeus and had him relinquish the crown of the gods to Poseidon,” he blurted out almost the same thing he told Triton.

“ **_What_ ** ?” Nearly everyone in the room yelled at the same time.

Percy shrank back in his seat slightly, surprised to feel the warm line of Apollo’s arm across the back of his chair until the god gave his shoulder a subtle squeeze to comfort him.

“Yep, that isn’t any easier to take the second time around,” Triton informed him dryly. “I’m going to need that long explanation now, Percy.”

“I think we all need the long explanation,” Achilles whistled. “I understand those words separately, but together? They don’t make sense.”

“I’m in agreement there,” Patroclus, naturally, agreed with his lover. 

“No surprise there,” Bellerophon snickered.

“Oh, like you don’t agree too,” Achilles huffed, rolling his eyes and flipping off that particular son of Poseidon. “Let Blue speak, Bells.”

Silence reigned as all eyes focused on him, all waiting for him to provide answers. He leaned a little further into the warmth that Apollo radiated, wanting just a moment to collect his thoughts.

“Zeus was acting weird from the moment he entered the room,” Nico thankfully started for him. “Right, Blue?”

“Right,” Percy acknowledged hastily. “In fairness, we should have realised that there was something amiss when he walked in with a smile on his face.”

“That really should have been your first clue, Blue,” Thalia snorted.

“Do  _ not _ -” Percy was quick to speak when he heard the intake of breath beside him, suggesting that Apollo was about to say something. “-start calling me Blue’s Clues.”

Apollo sighed and didn’t say a word.

“Well, Blue’s Clues, aren’t you going to continue your explanation?” Eros asked with a wicked grin on his face, humour dancing with the clouds in his stormy-blue eyes, and Percy wondered how long he’d have to throttle the god of love for before it had any effect.

Beside him, Apollo tried and failed to smother a laugh with the hand that wasn’t resting lightly against Percy’s back.

Percy glared at Eros. “Y’know, I’m really beginning to figure out why Aphrodite used to  _ pay people  _ to kidnap you,” he huffed, rolling his eyes.

“ _ Rude. _ ”

“When we finally managed to get through Eros’ rambling explanation as to how he got himself kidnapped by Gaia, Zeus decided that we’d ‘heard enough’ when Ares wanted Eros to go into greater detail,” Percy continued, ignoring that Eros had responded to him. He also ignored the face that the love god pulled at him in retaliation to his description of his tale. “It was at that point that Zeus seemed to go a little off the rails.”

“A little?” Eros snorted. “Baby Blue, he left the damn track altogether.”

“What he said,” Percy sighed and gestured to Eros.

“He then went on to ask the Sea Lord if he still wanted Olympus’ Crown, was a dick to King Skellington, and then began to glow brighter than Apollo would if Mermaid was to tell him that he has a pretty smile,” Eros continued to explain in his own unique way. “He started chanting in tongues older than some of the gods in the room and finished off the whole shebang with the announcement that Poseidon was the new King of the Gods. Naturally, that’s when the lovely storm we’re weathering kicked off.”

“And here we were, under the impression that you didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘succinct’,” Apollo let out a low whistle. “I’d be impressed if being impressed didn’t hurt.”

“What happened then?” Clarisse drawled, eyeing Apollo with an unimpressed look on her face. “Or is Sunspot just sad because his direct line to the sun has been blocked by the clouds?”

“Are you this mean to every god you meet or am I special?” Apollo asked, his voice taking on a plaintive edge.

“I don’t think you want to hear my reasoning in present company,” Clarisse responded to him, leaning back in her chair with a smug smile on her face. “I’ll tell you later, when our favourite Punk isn’t around to tell me off.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Apollo narrowed his eyes at her.

“Please don’t hurt him, we’re going to need him in one piece.” Percy shook his head. “Now, where were we? Well, where was Eros?”

“Zeus proclaiming Poseidon King,” Apollo stage whispered.

Percy acknowledged it with a flash of a smile before focusing back on their audience. “There was a part of me that had realised that something was off from the start, but it was at that point that I realised  _ what  _ was wrong,” he admitted. “And that’s when I called the Creator an idiot.”

There were mixed reactions from his team, with several intakes of breath and many instances of laughter scattered around the room. Beside him, Luke started cackling.

“I wish I was there!” Luke shook his head. “I would have paid good money to see that, Blue.”

“I think a lot of us would have paid good money to see that, Luke,” Bianca pointed out. “Styx, a lot of us would have paid good money to have the opportunity to do it ourselves.”

“Good relationship with your esteemed leader?” Travis asked, both him and Connor raising their eyebrows. 

The mood in the room shifted in an instant.

Percy’s teammates began to share nervous looks, all of them trying to avoid his gaze. He sighed, knowing that it was a question that he was going to have to take an unwilling lead on.

Again.

“Before I say what I’m about to say, I just want to make it clear that we’re all extremely grateful for the opportunities we’ve been provided and for the lives that some of us never thought we were going to get to live,” Percy started, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. He was very aware of the fact that Chaos could be listening to every word of their conversation, especially after Percy had refused to hear whatever inane argument he had prepared to defend his actions. “But there have been occasions when we haven’t all seen eye to eye with the god that gave us those opportunities.”

“You’re not saying his name?” Annabeth was quick to notice the key missing detail.

“No, I prefer to avoid it when I can.” Percy shook his head. “It tends to draw his attention to conversations that I’d rather hold in confidence. There’s a very real possibility that he’s listening in to this one, especially since I refused to hear his reasoning for impersonating Zeus and then proceeding to hand the Crown of the Gods to my father, and I’d rather not take my chances.”

“Are you sure he even had a reason?” Luke snorted. “Or did he just do it because he felt like it and  _ could  _ do it?”

“Luke…” Percy sighed.

“I don’t share the same qualms as Blue,” Luke informed the table. “What’s he gonna do, kill me?”

“For the love of the gods, will you  _ please  _ stop tempting the Fates?” Percy groaned. “Collectively, we’ve done enough to piss them off.”

“I like to make our lives more interesting,” Luke shrugged. “Problem?”

“Why are you like this?” Percy sighed, wondering – not for the first time – why he’d decided to pull Luke from the Underworld.

“I wasn’t loved by my father as a child,” Luke deadpanned.

Thalia started cackling. 

Annabeth sighed, loudly.

Percy debated the pros and cons of whacking his head against the table as hard as possible before realising that he’d only give himself a headache to rival Apollo’s and provide Luke with even more material.

“Before Apollo tries to argue with that fact on Hermes’ behalf,” Triton intervened, though there was humour in his tone. “Can I just ask why  _ you  _ think Chaos did what he did?”

“Me?” Percy asked, gesturing to himself despite already knowing the answer.

“Yes, Flounder, you,” Triton confirmed with a nod.

Percy stopped for a second to consider, wanting to shudder as an unpleasant thought crawled its way up his spine. He just didn’t want to display such a visceral reaction to what was such an innocuous question, settling for tensing slightly instead. Hidden from view, Apollo started drawing gentle circles on Percy’s shoulder blade.

Percy sighed and relaxed slightly, knowing he was going to have to answer before someone tried to prompt him. Or worse, answer for him.

“Our leader is aware of the fact that my relationship with Lord Zeus had always been… questionable in nature,” Percy winced, waiting for the usual perfectly timed roll of thunder. It never came. “From what he said in the aftermath, I can only speculate that he thought it would be a good idea because he’d never have to lose me to Zeus’ common threat of ending my life. I’m not self-centred enough to think that’s the  _ only  _ reason, but I know our leader well enough to know that he’ll try and use it as  _ a  _ reason to justify his profoundly disturbed actions.”

“You sure know how to piss ‘em off,” Clarisse let out a low whistle. 

“What happens now then?” Annabeth asked. She looked around the table, expecting to find support for her query and sighed when she was met with blank stares on most sides. “Come on, I can’t be the only one thinking it?”

“Thinking what?” Katie asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Yeah, Annie, you might have to explain your line of thinking to the not-Annabeth’s of the room,” Thalia agreed.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Annabeth asked.

“No, not particularly,” Leo spoke for the table, being one of many shaking their heads in response.

“You’ve lost a lot of us,” Luke added. “Even me, Beth, and usually that’s a difficult thing for you to do.”

Annabeth made a noise of frustration, one that Percy was familiar with from their years of friendship. It was usually a sign that she was frustrated with herself, for being several steps in front of the rest of the room and incapable of formulating it in a way they’d understand without running the risk of confusing them further. She ran a hand through her hair, combing through the ends of it with her fingers while she considered her response.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Apollo broke the silence that had fallen, giving Annabeth a tentative smile. “But are you asking that question because other than myself, the Olympian Council have clearly vacated the premises?”

“Yes!” Annabeth responded, delight dancing in her eyes when she realised that there was someone seated at the table who understood exactly what she was trying to say. “What happens now that Poseidon is King?”

“You could have just said that the first time around,” Thalia complained. “Anyone would think that Zeus was your father at times, what with your dramatic tendencies?”

“It’s not a fate I would wish on anyone, and nor should you,” Apollo informed Thalia, false cheer in his voice. “I’m sure he’s going to be even  _ more  _ delightful now that he doesn’t have the Crown of Olympus resting on his brow.”

“Is it permanent or is it reversible?” Piper asked the question that Percy had been dreading.

He let out a soft sigh. “At the moment, we don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked.

“When I asked about the possibility of reversal, the one who forced the change admitted that he did not recall the incantation and was too exhausted to perform it regardless,” Percy admitted. “I wanted him to teach it to my father, but Poseidon was in an even worse state; disoriented and weak, unused to the power that was suddenly thrust upon him.”

“I’m going to guess that it had a ripple effect on the rest of the gods, the Council coming out of it worse for wear?” Annabeth asked, looking from Apollo to the other three gods in the room for reference. “Which is why Apollo looks like he’s wishing for death and the other three just look like they’re in various stages of hangover recovery?”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Blondie,” Eros confirmed.

“Can we not use that particular metaphor when I feel like there’s a spirit hitting nails into  _ my  _ head?” Apollo asked, using his free hand to massage his forehead for a moment before giving the table a pained smile. “Yes, Annabeth, you’re correct in your assessment. It’s also why the rest of the Council elected to return to Olympus.”

“And you didn’t go with them?” Thalia asked, eyes narrowing. “Why?”

Apollo slumped against Percy’s side like a puppet who’d had his strings cut, a sigh leaving his body in response to the awkward question. 

“That’s why we asked you all to attend,” Percy answered for him, knowing that he should probably unleash the truth. “With the gods now in the state that they’re in…” He paused for a moment, contemplating how to phrase it. “Well,” he gestured helplessly, eventually settling on the truth. “We’re on our own.”

Immediately, there was a cacophony of noise; everyone in the room having something to say about Percy’s declaration, everyone holding their own opinion and intent on sharing it.

Personally, Percy just wanted them to silence. And judging from the way Apollo had winced and was rubbing his forehead again, he wasn’t the only one.

Instead of trying to join in the effort to be the loudest in the room, Percy just sat in silence and watched. He bent his arm at the elbow, reaching his hand over his shoulder the best he could while trying to disguise the action as nothing more than an attempt to massage the limb. In reality, he was doing it so he could lay his own fingers over Apollo’s in wordless comfort when he knew the god was suffering. 

And when silence finally reigned again, he reluctantly let the hand fall back down into his lap and pretended that nothing had happened. 

“What do you  _ mean _ ?” Annabeth was the one who asked.

“I mean, the only gods that we can  _ expect  _ to help us are already in the room,” Percy sighed. “There’s a chance that others may join in the coming days, but we can’t take our chances. Not when we don’t know how much time we have. The common consensus is that Gaia will come as soon as she realises her son is in our hands, no matter what stage of readiness her forces are in. They can’t risk Nathan spilling secrets – which is exactly what he has done – so they’ll want to limit what we can do about them.”

“Getting the gods to aid us was your big plan, right?” Clarisse asked, worry marring her brow.

“It was one of them,” Percy admitted tightly, nodding his head. He didn’t want to tell them about Plan B. Not yet. 

“You realise that this is going to scare a lot of the Campers, right?” Katie asked. She looked concerned as she glanced at everyone in the room that was, or had been, a Head Counsellor for support. “For some of them, this is their first war. For some of us, it’s our third. But there’s no in-between on how much we fear the outcome.”

“Yeah, we’ve got a ton of more powerful players this time around,” Travis acknowledged. “But I speak for a lot of people when I say that there’s going to be an active concern about leadership.”

There were a few scattered noises of confusion, matching expressions on several faces.

“Come on, you have to know where he’s coming from?” Connor backed his brother. “Don’t pretend that you’re clueless now when we’ve all spent five years wishing for a miracle.”

“A miracle?” Bellerophon asked, curiosity colouring his tone as he looked at the Stolls. “What sort of miracle are we talking about here?”

“One that would be pretty difficult to bring to fruition unless you’ve learned how to raise the dead,” Travis laughed bitterly. “Or, at the very least, how to find a person who may as well be.”

The realisation that they were talking about him washed over Percy in the same way a bucket of ice-cold water would; swiftly and painfully, a chill permeating his bones in the same way the guilt began to eat at his heart.

“Oh,” Annabeth had apparently come to the same realisation, her expression shuttering.

Several people became fascinated with the wood grain of the table or the pattern of the carpet; namely his team, and those of whom he had revealed himself to either by accident or on purpose during the duration of their time in and out of Camp. 

With the realisation came the overwhelming feeling of  _ wrongness _ , guilt overcoming him when he realised just how unfair his actions had been. With each person he had revealed himself to, he’d had less and less of an excuse as to why he was keeping his presence a secret.

When he had revealed himself to Annabeth, the excuses had run out.

And yet, here he was, sitting in a room filled with his friends and his family and some of them doubted even the possibility that he had survived.

“It would be different if we had Percy here,” Connor sighed. “And I can’t be the only one who thinks that, right?”

“No, I agree,” Chris nodded. “And Clarisse agrees too, right?”

Percy realised with a shock that Clarisse hadn’t told Chris, even after she had called him on his identity in the woods. He’d dismissed it as a foregone conclusion, expecting Clarisse to have told her boyfriend and closest confidant. However, if the awkward expression that flickered over her face was anything to go by, she had kept his secret and was sorely regretting it now.

“This isn’t fair anymore,” Percy spoke before Clarisse could. “This charade should have ended when we arrived back in Camp, when we arrived back from the Labyrinth and my excuses lay buried in its corridors.”

There was confusion on some faces, understanding and hope on others.

A gentle squeeze to the shoulder was the last incentive he needed to reach up and push the hood of his cloak down, disregarding his mask to the tabletop before he looked around the room properly and smiled at the friends he had left behind and the friends he had made in his absence.

“Needless to say, I won’t be wearing that again,” he gestured carelessly to the item on the table, needing to say something in the silence that had filled the room. “Not when I shouldn’t have been wearing it around you all in the first place. And for that, I am sorry.”

“ _ Percy _ ?” Katie’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, Travis?” Connor spoke softly, eyes fixed on Percy. “Are we having the same dream right now?”

“You think Luke’s ugly mug would be in our _shared_ _dream_?” Travis responded. “Nah, definitely just a shared hallucination.”

“Are we like the only ones shocked by this?” Chris asked, looking around at the other Counsellors. “Clarisse?”

“I revealed myself when we went on the Quest,” Percy admitted with a wince. “And by then, the only people who didn’t know were Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank.”

“I guessed,” Clarisse confessed. “And I called him out on it when we went to fetch Leo and Beckendorf from the woods.”

“Wait, did  _ Pollux  _ know before us?” Travis asked, staring at Dionysus’ son and his perfectly calm expression.

“Sorry?” Pollux tried to appear apologetic as he gestured to Castor, his brother suddenly finding the spot of wall above Percy’s head  _ extremely  _ fascinating to look at. “But  _ someone _ practically spelled it out for me.”

“C’mon Luke, Hermes-kid solidarity!” Travis complained. “You could have dropped a few hints for us.”

“And miss seeing the looks that the pair of you just sported?” Luke laughed. “I think not.”

“I’ve said it to a few of you, but I’d like to say it again to all of you,” Percy managed an apologetic smile, relief coursing through his veins. “I’m sorry about the way I left. It’s no excuse, but I really wasn’t thinking and I couldn’t bear to stick around for much longer. Not with Nathan. It wasn’t until I came back that I allowed myself to think about what happened  _ properly _ , and I’ll hold up my hands and admit that I definitely went for the most extreme option offered to me. It seemed like a good idea at the time, when all I wanted was an escape.”

“You don’t have to justify your reasoning,” Katie assured him. 

“No, I do.” Percy shook his head. “I  _ definitely  _ have to justify the reasoning that left you all thinking I was dead for five years.”

“I won’t lie to you, I have had questions about that,” Clarisse admitted. “And you’ve not been around to answer them.”

“Do you want to ask them or do you just want me to tell you about the night I left?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve been curious about that too,” Apollo confessed, lightly tapping his fingers against Percy’s shoulder blade. “I’m not sure you’ve ever gotten round to telling me the finer details.”

“Really?” Percy frowned, a little surprised. “I guess it’s one of many things I’ve been meaning to tell you then.”

“I think quite a few of us want the story of the night you left,” Clarisse’s voice was filled with humour. 

“Gods, where do I even start?” Percy shook his head.

“Hmm, maybe with the night you left?” Nico suggested innocently.

Percy glared at him, cursing the fact that Nico had ever developed a sense of humour. “ _ Funny _ ,” he rolled his eyes before refocusing on the others. “I don’t really know  _ why  _ I decided to do something so extreme,” he admitted. “I remember looking at everything that was going wrong, and I remember thinking about everything that had happened over the years before, and I just felt so  _ overwhelmed.  _ Everything was supposed to be peaceful and perfect for the first time in my life but it just  _ wasn’t  _ and I didn’t have space to think about it.”

“You just wanted out?” Apollo made a soft noise of sympathy.

“I just wanted to get away and think it through,” Percy confirmed. “I didn’t even know where I wanted to go when I stumbled across the border, I just knew that I wanted to get away. I couldn’t go to my mom’s because that would be the first place anyone would check and I didn’t want anyone coming after me, not then.”

“You’ve got that one right,” Will nodded. “Nic was about to take a dive into the nearest patch of shadow when he found the notes you left.”

“How far did you even make it from Camp?” Travis asked.

“Zeus and Hades appeared when I’d barely taken a few steps,” Percy admitted, remembering their bickering fondly. “Zeus was the one that Chaos had spoken to and he had gotten Hades involved for the sake of causing more trouble. Well, he also needed Hades’ permission for me to fish my gaggle of idiots from the depths of the Underworld too I suppose.”

“Hey!” Several members of the team responded indignantly.

“They promised to take care of everything when I left,” Percy sighed. “I figured that they’d come up with some stupid excuse, I didn’t realise that they’d get too carried away staging the first episode of CSI: Olympus to remember to tell anyone I was  _ alive. _ ”

“Why didn’t they correct anyone when they realised their mistake?” Katie asked.

“You’re operating under the assumption that  _ Zeus  _ would admit to making a  _ mistake _ ?” Percy raised an eyebrow, trying to hold back laughter.

“I don’t know, Kelphead, he admitted to making Jason, didn’t he?” Thalia snorted, a wicked grin on her face.

“Hey!” Jason protested indignantly amongst the surprised bursts of laughter from the rest of the room. “First time is a mistake, second time is a choice. What order were we born in again?”

“He’s got you there, Thals,” Luke laughed as Thalia glared at her brother. 

“I’m sure our father loves you just as much as he loves me,” Apollo assured them both before he stopped and wrinkled his nose. “I realised that’s a very poor comparison to make when I’m not entirely sure where I stand on the ‘children Zeus tolerates’ scale at the moment. Maybe compare yourselves to Athena instead? Or Arty, he usually likes Arty.”

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Bellerophon spoke up. “I’m very thankful that I am a son of Poseidon.”

“Agreed,” several of the room stated in solidarity, Triton glaring at each of them for speaking in turn with him.

“I think that was another reason why Zeus and Hades didn’t want to own up to their mistake,” Percy nodded along. “They knew that Poseidon would be furious; especially if they then had to admit that they’d handed me off to a strange man who likes to collect heroes, and they didn’t know where I actually was. At least when he found out, I was there to break the news so he only expressed minor murderous tendencies.”

“Honestly, I’d pay to see his face in response to seeing you refer to him as a ‘strange man who likes to collect heroes’ – way to hit the nail on the head, Perce,” Luke cackled.

“Again with the metaphor!” Apollo whined.

“There, there.” Percy couldn’t resist saying in a sickly-sweet tone, shifting his hand from his lap to Apollo’s in order to pat his thigh in a slightly patronising manner. “Is the mean Lieutenant saying nasty metaphors?”

“Don’t  _ you  _ start being mean to me too, Baby Blue,” Apollo whined, reusing one of the nicknames that Eros had tried out earlier on. “I don’t think my fragile heart could take that right now.”

“I thought it was your head that hurt?” Percy asked without thinking, too occupied by trying to will away the sudden warmth in his cheeks. 

“It does,” Apollo shrugged. “Which one would gain me the most sympathy though?”

“If your heart hurts, I think you should either be going to the infirmary with Will or getting Aether or Tri to take you to Olympus’ infirmary,” Percy informed him, a soft frown on his face. He didn’t want Apollo to suffer unnecessarily. 

“Percy, I’m fine to stay here,” Apollo assured him, squeezing his shoulder again. “I want to stay here.”

“Only if you’re sure?” Percy reluctantly took his word for it. 

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be right now.” Apollo smiled softly. “Really.”

“So!” Luke interrupted loudly and Percy couldn’t help but flinch, remembering that they were in the middle of a meeting. “We need to make a plan, right?”

“Oh, yeah!” Percy agreed, ignoring the smattering of muffled laughter and hushed whispers. “A plan!” 

Percy had lost track of how long they had been planning for when Clarisse’s suggestion that they take a break and look at the map with fresh eyes was finally accepted. As everyone started to shift and move, Percy was quick to catch Aether’s eye and glance pointedly at the ceiling.

It was time to chat about Plan B.

“How are you feeling?” Percy asked Apollo softly, having noted that the god’s quiet spells had only increased in duration the longer they had been seated.

“Tired,” Apollo admitted quietly, obviously not wanting anyone to hear the admission. “I probably should have taken your advice to go and lie down.”

“When did you realise that one?” Percy asked, already knowing the answer.

“Probably when I tried to hide the fact I was trying to nap on your shoulder by saying I was trying to get a better look at your notes,” Apollo confessed. “You already knew that though, right?”

“I figured,” Percy nodded, gently squeezing Apollo’s knee with the hand that was settled there. “Go get some rest, idiot.”

“You call me the nicest names, Bluebell,” Apollo chuckled. “Do I warrant a chaperone or do you trust me to walk up to my room by myself?”

“Nice try,” Percy laughed too. “I’m not depriving Will of the opportunity to hover over you.”

“You’re no fun,” Apollo grumbled good-naturedly.

Percy risked a glance over to Aether, relieved to see that he’d managed to grab Thalia before she had left the room. Nico was waiting with Will anyway, both of them looking at Apollo with concern in their eyes.

“Come on, Sunshine,” Percy reluctantly slipped out of his seat and the warmth that Apollo being seated beside him had provided, offering a hand up to the pouting god. “I’ll walk you to your doom. Sorry,  _ room _ .”

After leaving Apollo in Will’s capable and Eros’ not so capable hands, Percy was quick to shove Nico into his room where Aether and Thalia were waiting.

“Give a guy some warning!” Nico complained.

“Sorry.” Percy winced. “I needed to talk to you and I didn’t want anyone to hear me even ask.”

“Oh…” Nico nodded before his eyes went wide. “ _ Oh _ .  _ You  _ need to talk to  _ me _ .”

“Yes?” Percy responded, a little confused. 

“Will is going to owe me  _ so much _ ,” Nico cackled.

“I think  _ I’m  _ going to owe  _ Will _ ,” Percy admitted with a wince. “He’s going to hate me for what I’m going to ask.”

“Y’know, I think he’s going to be more okay with it than you think,” Nico responded.

“You think he’s going to be alright with me asking you to risk your life?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

Nico paused for a moment, surprise flickering across his face as he seemed to register that there were two other people in the room with them. His shoulders slumped and he sighed. “I think we were just having two very different conversations.”

“I’ll have to agree with you on that,” Percy agreed before pausing himself. He tilted his head slightly and gave Nico an inquisitive look. “Wait, what were you talking about?”

“Nothing!” Nico responded far too quickly for it to actually  _ be  _ nothing. “What were  _ you _ talking about?”

Percy decided to take the out, knowing there was no way he was actually going to get the answer he wanted from Nico. “I need to speak to you,” he repeated before looking to Thalia as well. “ _ Both  _ of you.”

“No shit,” Thalia snorted. “Why else would you have asked him,” she jerked a thumb in Aether’s direction, “to try and kidnap me in front of a whole room of people?”

“I didn’t ask him to kidnap you!” Percy protested swiftly.

“I didn’t kidnap you!” Aether protested at the same time, cheeks flushing. 

“Chill, Weather Boy,” Thalia rolled her eyes. “I’m pulling your leg.”

“Weather Boy?” Aether repeated incredulously.

“You’re like the god of Upper Air, right?” Thalia shrugged. “It’s close enough.”

“Be nice,” Percy warned as he headed across his room, making a beeline to his bookshelves. It took him a few moments to remember which books Aether’s diary were stashed behind, carefully moving them aside to get to it. “We like this god.”

“Higher or lower on the list than Triton?” Thalia asked.

“It would be an affront on our brotherly rivalry if I ever said anyone ranked bel- Wait, where did Tri go?” Percy realised he hadn’t even checked to see where Triton was headed after the meeting, too distracted by Apollo.

“Icarus whisked him away,” Nico informed him. “I think they’ve got quite a lot to talk about.”

“Good,” Percy sighed in relief before squaring his shoulders, pulling the diary from the shelf and holding it aloft for a moment. “We’ve got a lot to talk about too.”

When they were all settled, Percy shot Aether an awkward smile in the hope that the god would give him some guidance of where to start.

Normally there was a damn prophecy that kicked off the conversation for him.

“Look, I know that neither of you wants to hear another word about battle strategy – I know I certainly don’t – but this can’t wait,” Percy sighed, figuring it was the only place to start.

“Well that doesn’t sound ominous,” Thalia sighed. She looked at each of them before raising an eyebrow at Percy. “Is there a reason why it’s just the four of us and this isn’t something you brought up downstairs?”

“Yeah,” Percy confessed. “There’s a reason.”

“You said that you didn’t think Will would be happy with you asking me to risk my life,” Nico pointed out. There was a weary look on his face, one that Percy hated being responsible for. “What’s the reason, Perce?”

“I don’t want this to be common knowledge,” Percy admitted. “Because I’m hoping that it won’t come to this.”

“Come to what?” Thalia asked. “Spit it out, Kelphead.”

“Last night, after I spoke to Annabeth, I got Nico and Will to help me go through some books that Apollo had ditched on me,” Percy explained. “I found Aether’s diary and realised who it belonged to – but I couldn’t remember his name. I went to Eros, he told me, and when I came back, I told Neeks and Will to go make out in their own room because they were  _ defiling my rug _ . When they left, I summoned Aether and got reacquainted. We’ve met before, remind me to tell you how at a later date, and when we got that out of the way, he helped me more than Tweedledee and Tweedledum.”

“I’d ask which is which, but I think we all know the answer,” Thalia cackled.

“I wish you were still a tree,” Nico huffed. “I never would have had to meet you.”

“Wouldn’t you  _ pine  _ for the dear cousin you never got to meet?” Thalia teased. “You’d be stuck with Fish-For-Brains for company.”

“You whine at me for not telling you why I wanted to talk and then you don’t pay attention to me when I’m actually trying to explain.” Percy rolled his eyes. “ _ Leaf  _ him alone, Thals.”

“Did you just-?” Nico groaned. “I hate you both.”

“No you don’t,” Percy and Thalia snarked in sync.

“This is mildly terrifying,” Aether admitted. “It’s like seeing what would happen if all of the Big Three decided to like one another at the same time.”

“Who said we like each other?” Thalia teased.

“Don’t you?” Aether asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Weather Boy?” Thalia smirked, trying to stifle laughter.

“Play nice and listen to Fish Food, Bark Brains,” Nico interrupted. “I’ve got a feeling he’s going to start whining again if we don’t listen to his big plan.”

“I’m not going to-!” Percy started before giving up, deciding it was safer to walk away than to engage. “Am I allowed to talk now or do you two need to call each other a few more names?”

“Nah, we’re good.” Thalia beamed at him. “You were saying?”

“When I showed Aether his diary, he admitted that it was glamoured. While it was his notebook, of sorts, it can’t be defined as a diary,” Percy finally continued with his explanation. “I believe ‘Spellbook’ was a better term?”

“Got it in one,” Aether nodded. He reached out and took the offered book from Percy, beginning to leaf through the pages in search of what they needed. “Over time, there are certain things that have been lost from Olympus’ libraries. Some of it has been lost accidentally… Some of it has been intentionally destroyed.”

“Despite running the risk of sounding like Annabeth, why would someone destroy information?” Thalia asked.

“To stop other people from using it,” Aether sighed. “I’ve destroyed a few things myself, but only because of how dark the content was. There are things that nobody needs to know how to do. The issue is that people have destroyed other information too.  _ Good  _ information. There have been gods who have defected to the dark, gods who have wanted to wreak havoc on the world, and they’ve sourced information that they’ve gone on to destroy the answers to in the hope that we’d never know how to rectify it.”

“Are you saying that you’ve got stuff written down in that thing that we wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else?” Thalia hit the nail on the head.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Aether nodded, finally reaching the right page and placing it down on Percy’s bed. “Old magics, spells and information that were destroyed the last time a god decided to take down an entire wing of the library.”

“So what kind of spell are we talking about?” Thalia asked.

“This one,” Aether pointed at it and started to read,

_ “One born from the Underworld, and a Son of the Sea, _

_ A Child of Lightning shall make three,  _

_ Power of a Primordial fourth, used to unite thee. _

_ Intertwined hero’s breath,  _

_ Will save the world from certain death. _ ”

There was a moment of silence in the room as the other two stared at Percy and Aether.

“I think you’re missing one key ingredient there, guys,” Nico pointed out. “We’re fresh out of Primordials.”

“Yeah, I agree with Death Breath,” Thalia nodded. “I can’t say I know any Primordials. Well, I  _ certainly  _ don’t know any that would be willing to drop everything and come help a bunch of demigods save the world while Olympus does nothing.”

Percy gave Aether a pointed look.

Aether suddenly became very invested in the rug that Nico and Will had defiled the night before.

“Are you going to tell them or am I going to have to tell them?” Percy asked with a sigh,

Aether reluctantly looked up and gave the other two a pained smile. “Voila,” he gestured weakly to himself. “One Primordial God, at your service.”

There was silence, again.

“ _ What _ ?” Thalia’s jaw dropped.

“Those of us that are left don’t exactly publicise it anymore,” Aether admitted. “Several of us masquerade as gods from the same generation as most of the Olympians because it’s easier than admitting who we truly are.”

“That makes sense,” Thalia agreed, a small frown on her face.

“So we’ve got our one born from the Underworld,” Nico gestured to himself. “A son of the sea,” he pointed to Percy. “A child of lightning,” he nodded to Thalia. “And our Primordial fourth,” he finished by looking to Aether.

“Yes,” Percy confirmed.

“And what  _ exactly  _ does the spell do?” Thalia asked.

Percy and Aether exchanged a guilty look.

“That’s the issue,” Aether admitted, poised to continue when the handle of Percy’s door suddenly rattled - indicating that someone was about to come in.

The door flew open, Luke skidding into the room with a wild look in his eyes. A small gesture from Aether had the spellbook shimmer and shut, nobody paying it any attention as they looked at the son of Hermes. He had practically doubled over in an attempt to catch his breath, hands resting on his hips.

“Luke?” Percy frowned, advancing towards his Lieutenant.

“Sorry,” Luke wheezed, straightening up. “I’ve just sprinted from Half-Blood Hill.”

“What, why?” Percy was on edge instantaneously.

Luke gave them a smile that was more of a grimace. “Scouts, Percy. Scouts have been seen over the border,” he caught his breath before spilling the words that Percy dreaded. “They’re coming.”

  
  



	60. Siblings Ruin the Best Kept Secrets.

The night that had followed had been long, with many of them managing to grab only a few hours of sleep. Percy found himself relieved that he’d managed to sleep at all, even if he’d only managed to finally close his eyes a few hours before dawn. They were all on edge, knowing that news of scouts could turn into news of a true army at any moment.

“Morning, Seashell.” Apollo found him in the War Room, staring at the map of Camp that they had mounted on the wall. Percy twisted to greet him, trying not to grimace in response to Apollo’s subdued smile and tired eyes. It was clear that Apollo had managed to get a similar amount of sleep to Percy, even though the god had needed it far more.

“Hey,” he settled on a neutral greeting. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt worse,” Apollo just sighed. He crossed the room to stand beside Percy, both of them fixing their eyes back on the map. “How are you?”

“I’d tell you that I’m feeling fine, but I think you’d know that I was lying.” Percy shrugged. “I hoped we’d have more time.”

“I hoped we’d have more time too,” Apollo agreed. “Especially after the events of the last few days. Everything seems to be happening so fast.”

“ _ Too  _ fast.” Percy nodded.

“What’s that line there?” Apollo asked suddenly, reaching out to tap against the web of red that criss crossed over Camp in a faint line. “I think I missed that explanation yesterday.”

“You did,” Percy confirmed, unable to keep the smile from his face and the laughter from his voice. “We discussed it while you were trying to have a nap on my shoulder.”

“That explains it,” Apollo laughed himself, ducking his head slightly as a faint blush that matched the shade of the line he was enquiring about fanned across his cheeks. “I was otherwise distracted.”

“While we were away, Beckendorf and a few of the others mapped out the Labyrinth tunnels that run below Camp,” Percy launched into the explanation he knew Apollo was after. “They’ve blocked them to the best of their ability and laid every trap under the sun as a precaution, as well as filling in the entrance in the forest and the one that Nathan decided to make in the cellar of the Big House. We’re going to keep a few people in the forest, just in case, so they can raise the alarm.”

“What word have we had from the Hill?” Apollo asked.

“No word about Gaia, yet.” Percy grimaced. “Every time I hear footsteps, or the Cabin door open or close, I think it’s going to be somebody to break the bad news.”

“The waiting is almost as bad as a fight itself,” Apollo spoke the words that Percy was feeling in his heart. “Have you been called upon to give a rousing speech yet? Are you going to go out and tell them that ‘a day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not  _ this  _ day’ or are you going to settle for something a little less iconic?”

Percy didn’t know who was more surprised by the burst of laughter that Apollo managed to bring forth; Apollo, or Percy himself. He shook his head before fixing Apollo with a smile, unable to resist in the face of quotes from Lord of the Rings. “If we had the time, I’d insist that we watch them in order to gain some inspiration.”

“It’ll just have to be something that we can look forward to then. Afterwards.” Apollo suggested, gently nudging their shoulders together. “You owe me a movie night anyway, I’ll be sure to collect.”

“So I do,” Percy laughed at the reminder of their first conversation upon his return. He gave Apollo a warm smile, wondering if his expression matched the one on the sun god’s face. “Sounds like a-”

“Percy!” Thalia burst into the room before Percy could finish his sentence, forcing the two of them to whirl around. Percy expected the worst until he saw the bright smile on her face and the delight in her eyes. “Artemis is here!”

The relief that Percy felt in that moment was almost palpable, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly as some of the tension that he had been unknowingly holding suddenly left.

“Artemis came back?” Apollo sounded just as relieved, veritably lighting up with an incandescent smile. “Is there anybody with her?”

“No,” Thalia sighed, her delight flickering momentarily. “Though she said that a few of the others would try to come.”

“Oh,” Apollo dimmed slightly, dismay painting a swathe of discontent on his face before he managed to settle his features in the same way as Thalia. “Where might I find my sister?”

“She’s just outside of our Cabin,” Thalia responded. “She’s talking to the girls, Zoë, Bianca, and Phoebe are out there too.”

Apollo took a few steps towards her before he turned to see that Percy hadn’t moved an inch. “Are you coming too?”

“I’ll be a moment,” Percy promised. “I think I should grab Orion beforehand though – I don’t think that’s a reintroduction that should happen by accident.”

Apollo followed Thalia out of the Chaos Cabin, glancing upwards to the sky as they started to walk towards Cabin 8. He was unsurprised to see that it was grey and overcast, having already seen the sky through the windows and in his eyes when he glanced into the mirror, but he couldn’t help but hope that it had changed in the few minutes since he had last checked.

Grey skies never heralded anything good in Apollo’s opinion; though he knew he was likely biased due to being the god of the sun, preferring days when he could look up and feel the rays of his domain on his face.

“Dear little sister!” He didn’t have to feign delight when Artemis came into sight, though he did have to force the smile that she caused to stay etched on his face. “I’m very glad to see you.”

“Apollo,  _ little brother _ ,” Artemis’ returned smile was warm, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She gestured that she wanted a hug, his first true indication that there was something amiss, but he gladly stepped into her hold. She rose onto the tips of her toes to truly throw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down slightly so she could whisper into his ear. “I couldn’t leave you here, not alone, not with what is coming.”

He stiffened before he pulled away, not wanting to arouse suspicion.

“How’s Poseidon?” Apollo settled for a safe topic of conversation, asking a question that was expected of him – one that he wanted to know the answer to regardless. “Oh, and Zeus? How is he doing?”

“I thought that Percy would be with you, no?” Artemis frowned.

“He said he would be along in a moment, he just needed to grab a friend,” Apollo explained, not knowing how much forewarning he should give his sister about Orion.

The Hunter had always been a difficult topic of conversation for them, a fact that had never changed over the many millennia that had passed since he’d lost his life and Artemis had been faced with losing him again to ageing memories or preserving them in the sky above – a constant reminder that never allowed them to slip from her mind. She wanted a reminder of more than just the bad memories she would forever hold.

“That explains his absence then.” She nodded. “How do you fare? You look pale.”

“None of us slept particularly well,” Apollo confessed a partial truth, choosing it carefully in order to placate her. “The sighting of scouts has had us on edge ever since.”

“And after the power transferral?” Artemis raised her eyebrows. “You know that is truly what I want an answer for.”

“I probably would have handled it better on Olympus, in the company of the rest of the Council, but it is done now,” he dismissed her concerns. “I am fine, really.”

“My Lady?” Zoë diverted Artemis’ attention, allowing Apollo to glance over his shoulder in time to see Percy and Orion appear. 

He contemplated making a run for it as Zoë engaged his sister in swift conversation, knowing that Orion would be completely averse to his presence and it would probably make things a lot easier if he were to turn tail and vanish.

“You good?” Percy asked when he reached them, keeping his voice low in order to not draw Artemis’ attention just yet.

“I’m fine,” Apollo lied, knowing damn well that Percy would understand how he actually felt from the conversation that they’d already had. “Was just thinking that I should probably disappear for this.”

“You should stay,” Percy assured him with a soft smile. Before Apollo had a chance to protest, Percy opened his mouth again and spoke at a volume that his sister would hear. “Lady Artemis?”

“Oh, Percy!” Artemis spun. “Apollo said you’d be along any minute. Something about a friend?”

“Yes,” Percy responded before twisting and gesturing to Orion, who was frozen a few metres away and staring at Artemis as if it was the first time he had ever laid eyes on the moon. “I think you may already know one another?”

Artemis’ eyes went as wide as saucers, a shocked gasp elicited in response to the man standing before her. Apollo couldn’t help but feel the same delight, thrilled to see the shocked happiness in his sister’s gaze before she started to run. She practically flung herself at Orion, their height difference almost comical as she had to latch her arms around his neck and he had to keep a tight grip on her waist to stop her from falling. 

“My Lady,” Orion greeted, voice thick with emotion as he buried his face in her auburn hair. “I thought I would never see you again.”

When he set Artemis down, she was quick to indignantly huff. “I thought _I_ would never see _you_ again!” She retorted. “I can’t believe, I mean- _Look at you_.”

Apollo winced as she reached up and cupped his jaw, smoothing her thumb over the small scar that ran upwards from beneath his chin and through his jawbone, tapering off in the middle of his cheek. He knew it was caused by the scorpion that had been sent to kill him, likely from a pincer that tried to catch his neck and grazed his face instead. 

“Look at  _ you _ ,” Orion responded, covering her hand with his own as he gazed down into her eyes. “You’re just as radiant as ever.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t leave them to it?” Apollo whispered softly to Percy, not wanting to disrupt their moment. 

Artemis whirled around and fixed Percy with a delighted smile before Apollo could get an answer. “Is this what you meant when you said that there were more surprises amongst your ranks?”

“Yes, it is.” Percy nodded. “I didn’t want to just _ tell you _ I’d brought him back; he’s been with the other team, and then I haven’t had the chance since he arrived back. I would have said after the meeting yesterday, but we all know how that ended.”

“Indeed.” Artemis grimaced. “Your father wished for me to assure you that he is feeling better, he caught me sneaking out of Olympus and said he’d be joining me if he could.”

“And Zeus?” Apollo asked. He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips, for they drew Orion’s attention. And by Orion’s attention, Apollo meant Orion’s glare. 

“He’s not handling it well,” Artemis responded hastily, wincing at the thought.

“I can imagine.” Apollo bit his lip. “Did he notice I was- I mean, did he ask where I was?”

“There was a brief discussion.” Artemis’ downturned mouth and closed expression told Apollo all he needed to know; he shouldn’t return to Olympus until his sister provided the all-clear, or face the wrath of their father.

“Perhaps you should go and visit?” Orion suggested, tone innocent and eyes wicked. “I’m sure Lord Zeus would be thrilled to see you.”

“Orion,” Percy warned before Apollo could even open his mouth to respond.

Orion acted as if Percy had not spoken, regarding Apollo with a look that would have made a lesser god shiver in their boots. Apollo glanced down at his custom Doc Martens and appreciated his footwear choice that day, needing a reason to look away from Orion. It wasn’t that he was intimated by the Hunter – not in the least. His issue, however, lay with Orion’s stunning resemblance to Percy in the same way all of Poseidon’s sons resembled their father. Apollo couldn’t look at Orion’s expression without fearing that he may see it on Percy’s own face and he wasn’t sure he’d survive the experience.

“My Lady?” Orion had an inquisitive edge to his voice, though it was not Artemis he was looking at when Apollo lifted his gaze from his boot’s golden stitching. He still had his eyes fixed on Apollo, victory snared in his gaze. “Did you kill the scorpion your brother sent after me or did it escape back to its creator?”

Apollo winced, knowing his day of reckoning had arrived.

It had been coming ever since he had learned that Orion was in Percy’s company, ever since he realised that the day when his sister and Orion would be reunited would soon come to pass. Around them, the former girls of Artemis’ Hunt stilled, refusing to look in the direction of their teammate while the current members all stared on in confusion. Apollo’s heartbeat began to quicken in pace, transforming from the beat of a death march to that of a sprint towards the arms of Thanatos.

“I’m sorry,” Artemis’ confusion was clear as she spun to face Orion. “ _ Who  _ do you think sent that scorpion after you?”

The laugh that Orion let out was harsh, a flicker of surprise gracing his face before he shook his head and his glare at Apollo intensified. “Did you never  _ tell her _ ?”

Artemis’ head whipped back towards Apollo, her horror plain and simple to see, before she looked at the three former Huntresses who were studying each blade of grass in a clear attempt to avoid her eyes. 

“Of course I told her.” Apollo held his head high and continued to tell the lie he had been telling since the day Orion died. “I told her that you died by my hand, and I assure you, I feel terrible for it.”

Apollo could see Percy shifting uncomfortably out of the corner of his eye and he couldn’t help but wish he wasn’t there to witness this. He knew that the son of Poseidon held his brother in high regard, knew that Orion had been a brother to him from the offset in a way that Triton had not – even if that relationship had come later. He knew that Percy trusted him to lead the team in his absence, trusted him with the responsibility to look after the team when they were cleaved in two by the man who had brought them all together. He also knew that he didn’t want to be the one to jeopardise any element of their relationship, never one to come between the bond of brotherhood. The bond that Apollo had with Artemis was one he cherished, one that he would treasure for all of time and he knew from experience that he would despise anyone that came between them.

Apollo didn’t want Percy to despise him.

Artemis would always have to come first though, no matter how his heart yearned otherwise, and he’d carried this secret for so long for a reason. To protect her, to shield her from as much hurt as he could manage. He couldn’t save her from her own heartache, from the hurt she had inflicted on herself in the aftermath, but he could do whatever it took to prevent others from adding to her hurt.

“You have not done what I think you have, no?” Artemis fixed Apollo with an intense stare and Apollo realised the flaw in his plan. He had not accounted for Artemis’ feelings about him, her troublesome younger brother who she had always doted upon – no matter how many times he tried to insist that he was the elder of the two. “Apollo,  _ what have you done _ ?”

“The blame does not lay solely upon thy brother’s shoulders, My Lady,” Zoë spoke up. “I did not correct his assumptions, nor did Bianca, or Phoebe. Apollo hast barely made his acquaintance these past few days.”

“What?” Orion frowned at Zoë, a near-perfect mirror for Percy. Apollo had seen the expression on Poseidon’s face countless times; typically when Athena made some sort of comment that nobody understood, or when Zeus made a particularly inane proclamation.

“How did you die?” Artemis asked Orion, searching his face for answers. “I don’t want to hear my brother’s name as your only word of explanation, I want to hear what happened from your perspective.”

“Artemis, My Lady, you know-”

“I want to hear it from you,” Artemis demanded, cutting him off. “Please?”

Orion looked troubled for a moment, akin to the discontent sea. “I went hunting?” He recounted, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “I had split from yourself and the other ladies for a few hours, wanting to give you peace and time to bathe without my eyes around camp. There was a noise from the undergrowth and a scorpion burst forth – a scorpion that was larger than you or I. It had a mark akin to a burst of sunlight on its back, and I knew then that it was sent by your brother. He had attempted to warn me away from you and the Hunt many a time, so it was not wholly unexpected that he sent a beast after me. I don’t think he expected me to be able to hold the damn thing off for so long, so he decided to finish the job,” the man rubbed his chest directly over his heart and winced. “One gold arrow, straight through.”

Apollo winced himself.

Looking at Percy and seeing whatever look of disgust that was likely on his face was probably a terrible idea, but Apollo had never claimed to be well-known for his sparkling intellect. He had always been rather weak when it came to matters of the heart.

He looked.

Percy’s face was an unreadable mask, tight and drawn with no conceivable emotion in his eyes. They were fixed to the sky on the horizon between them, though they occasionally flickered towards Orion. It felt like a whole millennium had passed before they flicked in Apollo’s direction and somehow having that blank stare on him was  _ worse  _ than having Percy refuse to look in his direction.

He thought that the conversation he’d walked in on was bad enough, when Percy was desperately trying to play mediator for them all and was too distracted to think the situation through completely. This was worse. There were no distractions here, nobody else wanting to air their grief about the hand that Apollo’d had in their deaths. It was just Orion and their growing crowd of witnesses.

“I remember hearing your voice, My Lady,” Orion spoke again, making Apollo jolt. He’d been so wrapped up in his fear that he had forgotten that Orion was in the midst of explaining his memories. “I remember your voice and your hands on my chest as you shouted for Apollo to come to your side, and I remember that it only took seconds for him to show his face, already there to gloat about his handiwork.”

“Orion, I-”

“Artemis, leave it,” Apollo sighed, suddenly feeling like Atlas had dumped the sky onto his shoulders. He hated that this was happening in public view, wanting to usher everyone back to the damned War Room where so many torturous talks had already taken place. “Let him have his truth,  _ this  _ truth.”

“I cannot stand idle and let him think you responsible,” Artemis snapped at him, eyes flashing with a supernova of emotion. She whirled on her old hunting companion, auburn locks flashing over her shoulders like the flicker of firelight. “How certain are you that it was an arrow of  _ gold _ ?”

“I would say that I would stake my life on it,” Orion laughed. “But an arrow of gold was what took it from me the last time.”

Artemis reached over her shoulder and pulled one of her arrows from its quiver, balancing it between finger and thumb. It was polished to perfection, each inch of it capable of being used as a mirror – Apollo knew from experience, having stolen his sister’s arrows many a time to ensure that his hair wasn’t askew after she had tried to ruffle it. Plus, it always annoyed her when she caught him in the act.

He watched as she sighed and looked up to the clouds that still covered the sky. They blanketed the usual blue of the sky and the warmth of the sun with a blanket of cold grey, swirling and fighting every attempt made to shine through by the light. He dropped his gaze back to his sister, who was still looking up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the surprising stare of sea-green shift once more, hastily moving away from Apollo before he could catch them with his own.

“Apollo, come here?” Artemis looked over to him, gesturing for him to approach. He dragged his feet as he did, begrudging having to move closer to the demigod that wanted to kill him when there was an easy weapon at hand. “I need a light source and you’re the closest thing I can get without asking you to find a way to clear the skies for me.”

Apollo sighed and wriggled his fingers, letting a weak beam of sunlight dance upon them. Artemis levelled him with an unimpressed look, trying to goad him into creating something bigger and better.

Apollo was rarely one to back down from a challenge.

He waved his hand and extinguished his lazy attempt to satisfy his sister’s request, smiling to himself as he brought his palms together and waited until they started to glow with the sunlight he was keeping trapped between them. Carefully he separated his hands, until they were only touching from the tip of his pinky fingers to the join of his wrists, and focused his attention on the ball of sunlight that filled them. A thin beam shot upwards, shooting out in leaf-shaped offshoots until it was level with the base of his throat, blooming into a blossoms of sunlight. Hyacinth blossoms.

“ _ Show-off, _ ” Artemis snorted, unable to keep the smile from her face in the light of Apollo’s genius. She stepped closer, holding out the arrow in her hand. It was bathed in golden light, reflected by the polished metal to the point that the arrow itself could be mistaken in colour. She looked up at Orion and gave him a pained smile. “Do you remember the remark you made about the unusually sunny day?”

Orion frowned, nodding slowly. He didn’t speak, eyes fixed on the arrow between Artemis’ fingers.

“See how the light reflects and makes the arrow transform in colour?” Artemis continued and Apollo knew now it was best to step away and let her deal with it in the manner she saw fit. “Do you know how many myths surround your death? How they vary?”

“I don’t quite follow?” Orion admitted, brow marred with frustration.

Apollo chose that moment to risk a glance over to Percy; looking over the bloom of his literal sunflower to see that there was a new light of understanding in Percy’s eyes, a small blossom of hope growing within. He just hoped that his own eyes were not playing tricks on him by showing him what he  _ wanted  _ to see.

“Over time, the details of your death have become distorted and confused,” Artemis sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I rarely pay them any mind, not when the memory of your death is seared into my skull. I didn’t realise that the most popular retelling would be the one to shape your perception of events, not when I had no reason to think I would ever see you again. If I had known, I would have ensured that it was the  _ truth  _ you heard, not the  _ lie  _ that has been perpetuated over the years.”

“My Lady, I fear you’ve lost me,” Orion apologised, shaking his head.

“My Hunter, do you honestly think that Apollo would still be breathing if he had indeed murdered you to ‘preserve my honour’?” Artemis asked, reaching up once more to stroke the back of her index finger down the scar on his cheek. “I would have taken care of him long ago if he did not think me capable of governing my own body. Even if I’d had to burn his body and scatter his ashes myself.”

Apollo couldn’t help but flinch as his sister threatened his murder, fully aware that she was completely capable of following through with it if she so desired.

He never wanted to give her reason to.

“He threatened you, yes, but it is something all brothers do in a sweet, but misguided attempt to show their sisters that they care. Apollo knew that our love was never going to be a truly physical one, for that is something that neither of us are interested in,” Artemis huffed. “He was also completely aware of the fact that I could and would have disposed of you myself if you ever did something untoward, something outside of my consent.”

“I would never,” Orion swore swiftly before pausing and looking to Apollo in confusion. “But if he did not send the scorpion, if he did not loose the arrow, who did?”

“The Earth Mother was the one to send the scorpion after you,” Artemis sighed, her regret written all over her face. “There was a time, shortly before I lost you, that you had an infected wound, yes?”

Orion winced and rubbed at his hip. Apollo presumed that there was a scar that lay hidden below his shirt, caused by whatever wound Artemis was talking about.

“You were delirious, ranting and raving because of the fever,” Artemis explained. “You threatened to kill every animal you came across and I think, in a moment of wakefulness, she heard your threat and did not know it was idle.”

“And the arrow?” Orion asked, gaze dropping to the arrow that was still in her now trembling hand.

“I can only beg for your forgiveness.” Artemis dropped her gaze to his chest, wiping away a stray tear before she met his eyes once more. “I was the one who loosed the fatal arrow, having come across you battling such a beast and being too rash to consider its movements before I tried to aid you. I didn’t realise that it was about to force you into the arrow’s path, it all happened so fast. It was a mortal blow, even if Apollo had been there the moment it happened, I don’t think he would have managed to heal you. He tried though, I swear on my virtue he  _ tried _ .”

Orion was silent, and so was the world around them. Apollo extinguished the light in his hands with a soft sigh of relief, thankful that such an immense weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He felt like he had handed the sky back to Atlas.

Even though he had been willing to continue to lie for his sister until his dying day, having such a responsibility taken away was  _ freeing.  _ It was one less thing to carry around, one less thing to have to be constantly aware of. It had been what he had dreaded most about seeing Orion; the constant concern that he’d slip up and break right through the centre of his web of lies, destroying it in one fell swoop with one unfiltered comment.

“I hate to do this when the future is so uncertain,” Orion sent Percy an apologetic look. “But can you spare us for a short while? We won’t go far.”

“By all means,” Percy spoke for the first time since the whole debacle had started. “If something happens, I’ll send someone after you.”

“Thanks,” Orion acknowledged with the barest hint of a smile before he focused his attention back on Artemis. “A moment of your time alone, My Lady?”

Artemis took the arm she was offered and they walked away.

Unaware of the drama that was unfolding outside, Nico found himself aching over whether he should warn his boyfriend of the discussion he’d had the previous night with Percy, Thalia, and their newly branded Primordial. He knew that telling Will would be the right thing to do, to give him some warning if they had to resort to the plan that now of them truly wanted to enact. It had been on his mind since they had dragged themselves out of bed that morning, mutually agreeing that they shouldn’t ask one another if they had slept well. They both knew the answer. He’d debated bringing it up at breakfast, and then again when they’d headed to the Infirmary so Will could familiarise himself with his old haunt.

Nico just didn’t know how to start that particular conversation.

“Is everything okay?” Will asked softly from where he was sifting through supplies in the entrance to the storage closet. “My Numbskull-Senses are tingling.”

Nico almost slipped from his perch on the desk, having been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to realise that he hadn’t exactly been the best company.

“I was just  _ thinking _ ,” Nico admitted.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Will quipped, clearly unable to resist the opportunity for a joke that Nico had handed to him on a silver platter. He immediately winced and shook his head. “Sorry, poor timing. What’s on your mind?”

“I would have made the exact same joke, don’t worry,” Nico assured him before he let his shoulders slump and smile vanish. “Percy is worried.”

“I’d be concerned if Percy  _ wasn’t  _ worried,” Will pointed out. “Is it because we’ve only got four gods here and he was hoping to have at least the Council and then some?”

“Yeah, that’s one of the things,” Nico admitted. “He’s also really worried about getting the newer Campers to fight. Y’know, the ones who have arrived in the last few years and have never seen a proper fight in their life?”

“I can see where he’s coming from,” Will nodded in understanding before his eyes narrowed. “But that’s not what you’re antsy about, is it? Otherwise, you would have just said.”

“Why do you have to be so intuitive?” Nico groaned. “I’m not complaining, I swear I kind of  _ like  _ having a boyfriend who can read my mind, but it's a right pain when I’m trying to figure out the best way to tell you something you won’t like.”

Will dropped the pack of bandages in his hand back on the shelf and came out of the closet, advancing towards Nico with a wary look on his face. “What do you mean?” He picked up both of Nico’s hands when he was close enough to, squeezing them softly. “What do you have to tell me that I won’t like?”

“There’s this spell,” Nico started hesitantly. “Aether and Percy found it. It’s their Plan B, but only if we’re all in on it.”

“And what does this spell  _ do  _ exactly?” Will frowned. “And who are  _ we _ ?”

“Percy, Aether, Thalia, and I,” Nico confessed. “And that’s the issue – we’re not entirely sure. Other than ‘save the world from certain death’, that is. It’s old magic, Primordial magic, and the side effects weren’t written with it.”

“Everything requires a price,” Will whispered, his face pale. “Nico,  _ everything requires a price _ .”

“I know,” Nico acknowledged.

“A spell like the one you’ve just described? Just think, it will throw the balance off completely. You’d save people that The Fates would expect to take,” Will worried. “I may not remember everything from my time in their custody but I do remember what they used to say about changing the course of the future. Every action has a price and the bigger the action, the bigger the price you pay. Nico, this is the type of thing you’d be paying for with your life and-” Will stepped closer, dropping his hands in order to throw his arms around him and hold him tight. “-and I can’t lose you.”

“ _ I  _ can’t lose  _ you, _ ” Nico breathed into the crook of his neck. “Not again.”

Will pulled back, but only slightly – just enough that he could look into his eyes. “You’re saying it would be a last resort, right?”

“The very last resort,” Nico promised. “The type of thing we’d only do if it looked like we were about to die anyway.”

“Why did I have to fall in love with a noble self-sacrificing idiot?” Will grumbled, but there wasn’t any heat behind it. “You aren’t allowed to die, di Angelo. I hope you realise that I’ll go and harass your father myself if you dare die on me. It’s not allowed.  _ None of you are allowed to die _ .”

“If I see Thanatos at any point, I’ll be sure to tell him I’ve got a Doctor’s Note for death,” Nico assured him.

“Oh gods, does my  _ dad  _ know?” Will asked, his eyes going wide. “I swear if Percy breaks his heart before he even realises that he’s got feelings for him, I’m going to break his face. Thrice saviour of Olympus or not.”

“Oh god,” Nico groaned, remembering the conversation he thought that he was going to have with Percy the night before. He let himself slump forward and rest his head against Will’s shoulder as he started to complain. “You should have heard him last night,  _ amore,  _ I thought he had  _ finally  _ realised because he shoved me into his room and told me he needed to speak to me about something. It wasn’t until I told him that you’d be happier than he thought you’d be that I realised we were having two different damn conversations because he pulled the same face Mrs O’Leary does when you pretend to throw her branch and was all ‘Will’s going to be happy about me asking you to risk your life?’ and I wanted to hit my head against the wall then and there. I was never that dense, right?”

“There, there,” Will comforted, gently patting Nico’s back.

“Hey!” Nico realised that Will wasn’t going to respond when there had been several beats of silence, immediately straightening up. “ _ Right _ ?”

“You thought I didn’t even like you,” Will deadpanned. “I told you there and then that you were the biggest dumbass I’d ever known, even after having known Percy for years. I think it still stands, even if Percy is doing everything he can to reclaim the title. Has he told my dad or not?”

“As far as I know, no,” Nico admitted, shaking his head. “I think you’re the only other person who knows.”

“Oh, great!” Will groaned. “That means  _ I’m  _ going to have to tell him if you all do something stupid. I hope Percy is prepared to have his body be turned into some sort of flower.”

“I thought none of us were allowed to die?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Well, yes,” Will huffed. “But at this rate, I think he deserves to spend at least a few days as some sort of flora. Maybe even a nice patch of seaweed to match his brain.”

“ _ Tesoro,  _ it took him how many years to realise he was in love with Annabeth?” Nico sighed. “We’ll be lucky if he realises that he thinks Apollo is pretty by the middle of next summer.”

“How many times has he saved the world again?” Will asked weakly. “He realised his feelings about Annabeth after the first time, right? Maybe there will be a repeat performance.”

“So we aren’t allowed to die because you want to see if Percy can identify his feelings?” Nico couldn’t keep the amusement from his voice. “Sorry Than, can’t come with you today, Percy needs a chance to figure out he  _ like likes  _ the god of the sun. Gods above, we’re  _ screwed. _ ”

“You’re not allowed to die because I say so,” Will ordered. Nico would have taken it as a continuation of their joke if his voice hadn’t wavered. “Doctor’s Orders, di Angelo, you’re not allowed to die on me. Not today, not ever.”

“Hey.” Nico coaxed him ever so slightly closer. “ _ None of us are going to die.  _ I promise.” He stopped for a second, considering what he was about to say before committing to it. “None of us are going to die today,  _ amore _ , I swear on the River Styx.”

Nico shot to his feet, almost flattening Will, when the desk started to shake and several of the pens fell to the floor. It was when he was upright that he realised that the floor itself was shaking, rumbling beneath their feet in the same way that thunder used to rumble above in response to an Oath on the Styx.

It was a clear recognition of the first Oath on the Styx that had left Nico’s lips in four years.

“Well,” Nico realised when the floor stilled beneath them. “That answers the question about what happens during an Oath while _Poseidon_ is on the Throne. I was half-concerned that we’d be facing a minor tsunami every time. At least a minor earthquake isn’t _that bad_.”

“What in the name of Ares’ flaming underwear just happened in here?” Apollo burst through the door, fear written all over his face.

That wasn’t what concerned Nico though.

No, what concerned Nico was the clear tear-tracks and reddened eyes.

“I made an Oath?” Nico responded awkwardly. “I think I could ask the same question about your face though. What happened?”

“My face?” Apollo frowned before the panic set in. They watched on as Apollo pulled the sleeve of his blue hoodie – the one that Apollo had  _ adopted  _ on their trip back to Camp – over his hand and wiped beneath his eyes, refusing to look at either of them as he did. Eventually, he gave them a weak smile and shrugged. “Going to guess you just missed the showdown then?”

“What showdown?” Will frowned. “Missed what?”

“Oh nothing,” Apollo tried to wave it off in an airy tone, though the fact he was bothered was written on his face, plain to see. “Just the ruination of a lie that has managed to last for several millennia, unharmed, until now.”

“Anything else?” Will asked, raising an eyebrow. He was obviously unimpressed by the answer, just as Nico was beside him. 

“Perceptive little shits,” Apollo grumbled. “Can’t you be more like Hypnos’ kid, what’s his name? Clover? Yeah, can’t you be more like Clover and sleep all the time?”

“ _ Clovis,  _ dad,” Will corrected, rolling his eyes.

“Clover is close enough!” Apollo protested.

“Alright, Dionysus,” Nico snorted. “Spill. What’s wrong with you?”

“Can’t you just accept that I had a rather large emotional attachment to that lie and let the matter rest?” Apollo huffed. “And don’t call me Dionysus, I’d never be caught dead in those grape squeezers he calls ‘running shorts’ – the man is a walking affront to fashion.”

“One,  _ ew.  _ Two, thanks for that disgusting mental image – you owe us both some brain bleach.” Will shuddered. “And three, stop dodging the question. If you were that bothered about this lie, people would either be complaining about the sudden snow storm because you decided to play hide-n-seek with the sun and the Northern Hemisphere or the sudden heatwave you’d decide to inflict on us.”

“What lie are you even talking about?” Nico asked.

“It was Artemis that shot the arrow that killed Orion, I took the blame,” Apollo admitted. He paused for a moment and blinked, seemingly taken back by his own words. “You know, I think that’s quite possibly the first time I’ve made such an admission aloud.”

Nico felt like his eyebrows were trying to crawl into his hairline.

“Dare we ask  _ why  _ that lie just got unravelled?” Will asked, managing to speak for them both.

“Arty is here, she came to help,” Apollo explained. “Perseus figured that we couldn’t exactly let Orion find out she was around and vice versa by them running into one another on the battlefield. He made a few digs concerning the part that he thought I had in his death and Artemis took it upon herself to ruin the lie I’ve spent several millennia telling.”

Somehow, Nico’s eyebrows tried to climb even further up his forehead. “ _ Perseus _ ?”

“I think that gives us our answer,” Will huffed. Then Will was the one who paused and blinked, in a gesture that was so like his father, before he frowned. “Wait,  _ Percy  _ was the reason why you were crying when you came in?”

“I wasn’t cry-”

“Apollo,” Nico cut him off before Will could. “Yes, you were. We both saw it, we don’t need to waste time arguing about it.”

“I shed a few tears, yes, and what?” Apollo folded his arms defensively. “It’s nothing new, boys have a reputation for making me cry.”

“ _ What _ ?” Will snapped.

“Oh stop it,” Apollo huffed. “I don’t want you to go after him and yell at him for it, he doesn’t even know I’m upset. He wanted to talk after the  _ thing  _ with Orion but he was whisked away by Beckendorf. I just got frustrated because every time we’ve tried to have an important conversation today, someone has interrupted us. I mean, it’s only happened  _ twice _ , but it’s still annoying. I don’t want you to go and shout at him, it’s not his fault.”

“What do you want then?” Will asked, visibly frustrated.

“I don’t know,” Apollo gave him a watery smile and held open his arms. “I wouldn’t say no to a hug though?”

Percy followed Beckendorf over to the  _ Argo II.V,  _ begrudgingly accepting custody of his cloak and mask as they walked. He didn’t want to lose the element of surprise by just walking in barefaced, identity revealed to Nathan without the slightest flair towards the dramatics. 

“Are you alright?” Beckendorf asked as he swirled the cloak around his shoulders, almost fumbling the fastening when his friend spoke. 

“I’m just tired,” Percy sighed. “I can’t wait for this to be all over.”

“I know exactly what you mean and I didn’t have to run around in the Labyrinth,” Beckendorf sympathised. “Also, it looked like I was interrupting a pretty serious conversation there? Sorry if I did.”

“With Apollo?” Percy rubbed at his bicep where the sun god had caught him when Artemis and Orion had walked away, sighing at the thought of them being interrupted again. This time, however, he couldn’t help but feel  _ glad _ . “It’s alright, we’ll find the time to talk eventually.”

He couldn’t stop his mind from straying to the revelations that had just unfolded, trying to wrap his brain around the lies that Apollo had told for Artemis. He couldn’t help but understand them, knowing that he’d do the same for any of the brothers he had within Camp’s borders, for Tyson, and certainly for Estelle. The only thing eating away at him was the fact he had  _ believed them _ . That he had stood there and listened to Orion’s accusations – not for the first time – and had believed them. Even with the guilt that was written all over the faces of both of the twin gods, with Artemis’ repeated attempts to foil Apollo’s lies. He had stood there and believed that Apollo had murdered his brother, and he had stood there and felt terrible for wanting to comfort the ‘wrong’ person; Apollo himself.

“We all keep interrupting, don’t we?” Beckendorf sighed. “I think that Lena is close to tearing her hair out over it.”

“Silena wouldn’t tear her hair out over  _ anything _ ,” Percy pointed out. “Don’t you remember what she did to the guy who tugged on it on our first proper mission?”

“Percy, I live in  _ fear  _ of that moment,” Beckendorf admitted, though there was laughter in his eyes. “You’re right though; I guess she’ll have to find another way to vent her frustrations.”

As they stopped beside the rope ladder, Percy eyed the side of the ship with trepidation and sighed. “Did he say  _ why  _ he wanted to see me?”

“Nope,” Beckendorf responded. “Just that he had to see you, he wouldn’t speak to anyone else.”

Percy rolled his eyes. “Brilliant.” 

“Perce?” Beckendorf raised an eyebrow as he reached for the rope. “Don’t forget your mask.”

“You wanted to see me?” Percy asked as he stepped into the newly converted Pegasi stables. He couldn’t help but feel relieved to see Nathan sitting in near enough the exact same spot as he was when Percy left last time, shackled hands resting behind his back.

“Usually I’d put in some sort of token complaint about ‘wanted’ not being my word of choice,” Nathan sighed. “But you’re right. I did say that I wanted to see you.”

“Are you feeling alright or do you need me to fetch one of Apollo’s kids?” Percy was unable to pass up the opportunity to poke fun. He took a few steps closer to Nathan, eyeing him carefully and wondering what it was that Nathan had insisted he be summoned for.

“Thanks for the concern but I’m  _ fine _ ,” Nathan huffed, despite the fact it was clearly a lie. There was a tiredness in Nathan’s eyes, his whole body drooping and wilted like a neglected plant. There was grief there too, grief that Percy didn’t need to guess the origins of. “I would have just asked one of the constant cycle of ‘visitors’ to grab me one if that was the case.”

“What is it then?” Percy asked, considering sitting down if this was going to be a long conversation.

“They sent scouts last night, didn’t they?” Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Scouts that didn’t even bother to hide, blatant with their presence when they could have stuck to the shadows and hid from the night watch?”

“Yes,” Percy confirmed, not bothering to lie when it was obvious that Nathan knew the truth.

“It was my suggestion,” Nathan grimaced. “To have them send scouts the night before, that is. I knew it would unnerve you all, provide everyone with a mostly sleepless night. You’ve been on edge all day, right?”

“Yes,” Percy repeated. He sat down, figuring it was a pointless exercise to remain standing. “Everyone is anxious, expecting an attack to happen at any moment.”

“They’ll be waiting until dusk,” Nathan confessed. “We factored the possible presence of the gods into the plans too; dusk would mean that the twins would both be facing a slight deficit to their abilities with the sun setting and the moon not quite risen. Dusk had the added bonus of you being too on edge to sleep the night before and too anxious to have tried to nap during the day.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Percy asked, genuinely curious.

“Eros popped by,” Nathan admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “I got to look into Tavy’s eyes one last time and it made me think; throwing my lot in with you would be the exact thing to make my mother turn in her grave, if she had one, that is.”

“What do you mean, you got to look into Octavian’s eyes?” Percy asked. He’d dissect the rest of Nathan’s proclamation later.

“You don’t know?” Nathan frowned, tilting his head a little. “Have you ever met Eros before?”

“No, I haven’t,” Percy shook his head.

“When he’s at full strength, his appearance to you is influenced by characteristics from the person you love, or at least like,” Nathan explained. “I think his powers are still on the fritz from when we took him; when I first met him, it freaked me out because Octavian was looking back at me, even though he was holding my hand by my side. It’s only his eyes at the moment. Have you noticed a change at all since you found him?”

Percy stopped to consider for a moment, frowning when he realised that Eros’ eyes had changed from green to blue. He’d just attributed it to Eros wanting to mirror the sky after being stuck underground for so long.

“I’m going to take that surprised silence as a yes,” Nathan laughed a little. It suddenly struck Percy that this was probably the most civil conversation they’d had since a few weeks into Nathan’s stay in Camp Half-Blood, back when he’d actually enjoyed spending time with his new ‘brother’ before Nathan had seemingly had a whole personality transplant overnight and it was only Percy who had noticed. 

“I didn’t realise he could do that,” Percy admitted. “I thought it was just something that Aphrodite did.”

“Eros isn’t as obvious about it, not normally,” Nathan shrugged. “Usually he just picks up traits that can be easily dismissed, hair colour and style, eye colour, that type of thing. He prefers to have his own individual face, but on occasion, he does change to match a person exactly. He did it to me to freak me out, even if he passed out moments later.”

“So looking into Octavian’s eyes made you decide  _ what  _ exactly?” Percy decided it would be best to steer Nathan back to the line of conversation that he was now most curious about, filing the information about Eros’ changing appearance away to deal with later.

“I’ve got a lot to atone for, Caeruleum,” Nathan sighed. He shrugged his shoulders again and gave Percy a tired smile. “I need to start somewhere.”

“Is that why you told me that we have until dusk?” Percy asked.

“Well, I can’t exactly start where I want to start, so yeah.” Nathan nodded. “That’s why I told you about the scouts and stuff.”

“And where  _ do you  _ want to start?” Percy couldn’t stop himself from asking, genuinely curious.

“Honestly?” Nathan snorted. “I’d want to start with an apology to Percy Jackson.”

Percy was, admittedly, dumbfounded. Of all the answers he had expected to leave Nathan’s lips, he had not expected the one that he’d actually got. He’d never considered the possibility of Nathan ever turning around one day and issuing an apology, the idea that Nathan would ever want to change his ways previously laughable.

“Would you say the same thing to Percy Jackson’s face or are you all talk, Nathan?” Percy tilted his head inquisitively when he finally spoke, having considered his response for a beat longer than what could be classed as ‘normal’.

“I think you’d be overestimating Percy’s willingness to ever be in a room alone with me,” Nathan laughed bitterly. “Somehow I doubt I’d top the list of people he’d want to see if he ever came back to Camp.”

Percy pushed down the hood of his cloak and dropped his mask into his lap, shrugging his shoulders in response to the wide-eyed look of horror on Nathan’s face. “I mean, you’d rank above Dionysus if he was wearing those damn ‘running shorts’ because  _ nobody  _ in their right mind would want to see that.”

“Gee thanks,” Nathan responded sarcastically before realising who he was actually speaking to all over again. He hunched in on himself slightly and gave Percy the weakest attempt at a smile he had ever seen. “So, you’re Caeruleum then?”

“Yeah,” Percy nodded. “That’s me.”

“I meant what I said, you know?” Nathan sounded unsure, as if he didn’t think Percy would believe him. Percy honestly didn’t know whether he should. “About wanting to apologise to you?”

“Why?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“I ruined your life, Percy.” Nathan stared at him. “I think that warrants an apology.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on that,” Percy agreed. “But  _ why _ ? Why do you want to apologise to me?”

Nathan looked thoroughly chastened for a moment before the weak smile returned. “My motivations are selfish, I will admit. It wasn’t until I lost Tav that I realised how you must have felt. It was like the ground beneath my feet had been snatched away and I couldn’t breathe, my entire world was taken away from me in the blink of an eye. I took  _ everything  _ from you and I didn’t even care about it.”

“What do you want from this?” Percy couldn’t help but ask. “What do you want from apologising to me? My forgiveness? Because you’re right, Nathan, you took  _ everything  _ from me and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive you for that. You may be responsible for all the good that has happened in my life since, stuff that wouldn’t have happened if I had stayed, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that you hurt me. You hurt me, you hurt people I love, and I don’t know if I could ever forgive you for that.”

“I know,” Nathan nodded. “I don’t want you to forgive me, I don’t _expect_ you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I’m sorry. For everything.”

“Everything?” Percy raised an eyebrow. “Does that include what you did to Will or is that an exception because you got Octavian out of the deal?”

Nathan flinched, fixing his gaze to the floor before he spoke again. “Yes, it includes what I did to Will,” he sighed. “I just needed  _ somebody  _ who I could talk to and I went to quite an extreme to get what I wanted. And if di Angelo ever lets me get close enough to him to apologise, I will.”

“ _ You needed somebody to talk to _ ?” Percy’s tone was incredulous, unable to believe the words he had just heard. 

“I said that wrong.” Nathan winced. “Look, I know you took my diary when you were in our Cabin. How much of it did you read?”

“ _ Our  _ Cabin?” Percy wondered if his eyebrows could climb any higher, completely ignoring the question about the diary. He’d come back to that. “I didn’t realise you missed having me as a roommate that much.”

“I’d call it yours, because it is, but it’s been my home for the last few years.” Nathan shrugged, seemingly accepting that they were following Percy’s line of questioning instead of his. “I mean it when I say I wish you’d stayed though.”

“You realise I wouldn’t have been receptive to the idea of hiding Octavian in there, right?” Percy snorted. “How do you think that conversation would have gone? ‘ _ Hey Percy, I know you’re upset because your brother’s boyfriend just died under mysterious circumstances but do you mind if  _ **_my_ ** _ boyfriend who should be totally dead stays in here? It’s definitely not a coincidence in the slightest. _ ’ Is that what you would have said to me?”

“Do you remember the first day I was a dick to you?” Nathan asked, surprising him.

“Well yeah,” Percy admitted. “It’s a pretty difficult one to forget.”

“Do you remember what happened the night before?” Nathan asked. 

Percy frowned, trying to recall. He drew a blank, only remembering that Nathan had seemed a little antsy on the walk back from that night’s Campfire and had gone to bed before Percy could ask if he wanted to talk about it. It was that night that he’d had the personality transplant that only Percy had seemed to notice. From then on it had been constant bragging about  _ himself _ , the friends  _ he  _ had made, what  _ he  _ had done that day. That’s when Percy had stopped liking him, no matter how hard he’d tried.

“You don’t remember waking up?” Nathan groaned. “I was hoping you would.”

“Waking up?” Percy questioned.

“I snuck out to speak to my mother and woke you up on my way back in. I told you to go back to sleep and you asked if I was okay and I didn’t know what to say. I just told you to go back to sleep again,” Nathan confessed. “I’d been ignoring her attempts to summon me since the night I’d arrived in Camp, see? She made it very clear that if I did not meet with her that night, she would…”

Percy frowned when Nathan trailed off, a look of blatant fear in his eyes. It was slightly unnerving to see, especially when he had been under the assumption that Nathan adored his mother – what he’d read in Nathan’s diary had seemingly confirmed that.

“How much of my diary did you read?” Nathan asked again.

“I’ll be honest and say I didn’t read an awful lot of it,” Percy admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “I read the first few paragraphs, got a little weirded out when you-”

“Gods of Olympus,” Nathan groaned, swiftly cutting him off. “Can we not talk about the hugely embarrassing crush that I had on you?”

“Nathan, there is a shirtless poster of me in that Cabin,” Percy pointed out, cringing with every word. “Is it  _ had  _ or  _ has _ ?”

“Atlas’ ass, I  _ knew  _ I should have burned that thing,” Nathan winced. “Is that all you read?”

“I flicked through until I found out how you brought Octavian back,” Percy admitted. “And then when we were down in the Labyrinth, Apollo read some of it.” He sighed, remembering how much simpler things were only a week ago. It was a personal preference to avoid admitting that Apollo had read some of it  _ to him _ , not wanting to share that particular detail with Nathan. “So Apollo has read more of it than I have, I just don’t know how much.”

“When I first started writing that diary, I knew that I had to make it as infuriating as possible to ward off any interested parties,” Nathan confessed. “My mother would have throttled me if anyone had come across it and reported back to her that I was writing down such important information, but I needed some sort of outlet. After Octavian was returned to me in the most ungodly of ways, I realised that nobody would have the opportunity to steal the diary from my possession because one of us would always be in the Cabin. And when he made trips to the city, he took it with him. It meant I could write about whatever I wanted, the stuff I’d never disclosed to anyone apart from Tav in fear it would reach my mother’s ears.”

“What sort of  _ stuff _ ?” Percy asked, genuinely curious.

“I only found out that I was a demigod the day I turned fifteen,” Nathan grimaced. “I was sixteen when I came to Camp – my birthday is on the Winter Solstice – and everything still felt so new, even after more than a year of knowing. Mother… Mother ripped me from the life I’d had and I hated her for it, even though everyone expected me to love her. How could I love the woman who tore me away from my dad and threatened to have him murdered if I didn’t  _ choose  _ to go with her?”

Percy could only blink in response, genuinely floored by the admission.

“I haven’t seen my dad since, I don’t even know if he’s  _ alive  _ anymore,” Nathan admitted, voice hollow. “And I’ve never asked.” He looked up and met Percy’s eyes, a downturned expression on his face. “I know that there is nothing that can outweigh the wrong I have done to Will Solace, but there’s a part of me that thinks that following my mother without question,  _ knowing  _ that my dad may be dead at her hand, is worse. I’ve never even  _ asked _ .”

Suddenly, when Percy looked at Nathan, he could only see the sixteen-year-old boy who had cried into his pillow during his first night in Poseidon’s Cabin. The sixteen-year-old boy who had cried out during the night for a father that Percy had presumed to be a stepfather, one who had loved Nathan in a way that Gabe never had and in the way that Paul had been desperate to prove. A stepfather who had always just been ‘dad’ to Nathan. Now that he knew the truth, that Nathan had been calling for a man whose status as one of the living was debatable, he felt even more repulsion towards the Earth Mother and her schemes.

“When you turned fifteen, is that when your mother took you?” Percy asked.

“Yes,” Nathan nodded. “She couldn’t hold form then, not properly, so it wasn’t her custody I resided in. It was in Oceanus’, so he could teach me enough trickery for me to pass as Poseidon’s son. And for a Titan who was still licking his war wounds due to that particular god, he wasn’t exactly  _ happy  _ about it. He was still furious with Kronos for goading him into war; he was neutral in the First Titan War, the fact that he got involved for another loss… Let’s just say that there is no love lost between Kronos and Oceanus now.”

“Do you know if he’ll involve himself in this conflict?” Percy asked, despite knowing that it was probably poorly timed in the face of Nathan’s many admissions. 

“No,” Nathan finally managed a proper smile. “In fact, he rather relished the opportunity to refuse Kronos’ request. He told mother that he was doing his duty by teaching me; it was either teach me or get involved, and he threatened to go to Poseidon under a white flag to tell him of my deception if they forced his hand to the latter.”

Percy breathed a small sigh of relief. The beach was one less avenue of attack for them to worry about. 

“Tell me about your dad,” he settled for a different line of conversation, genuinely curious about the man that had raised Nathan.

“Gods, he would  _ hate me  _ if he knew how I had been acting,” Nathan flinched. “He didn’t know that I was a demigod, but he knew that my mother would be a terrible influence on me. He told me as much and I didn’t believe him because the thought of my dad with a dangerous woman was a laughable concept. I wish I had heeded his warnings in the end.”

“What’s his name?” Percy asked, knowing he was incapable of telling Nathan that his dad wouldn’t hate him for what he had done, not when Percy himself didn’t know how to classify his feelings towards the son of Gaia. 

“Christopher Mallory,” Nathan whispered softly, his tone reverential in a way that suggested he loved the owner of the name and had barely spoken it in some time.

“ _ Mallory _ ?” Percy repeated, having thoroughly expected to hear the surname ‘Burns’.

“My real surname,” Nathan confessed with a shrug of the shoulders. “Mother insisted I changed it; she wanted to burn Olympus to the ground, and she wanted to use me to get there. Nathan Burns it was. It made me glad, in a way, that I didn’t have to hear my dad’s name as a curse upon people’s lips, that nobody called me Nathaniel like he did. I was Nathaniel Mallory to my dad and Nate Mallory to my friends – the ones I had before I came here.”

Before Percy could ask anything more, there was a muffled shout from the other side of the door, one that was unmistakably Luke calling for him.

“I think that’s my cue,” Percy grimaced and started to climb to his feet.

“I really am sorry,” Nathan whispered, looking up at him with wide eyes. “I hope you know that. I wish things had gone differently between us, y’know? I considered telling you everything the night I went to see her, when you asked if I was okay. I wish I had.”

Percy gave him a tired smile. “I wish you’d told me too, Nathan.”

He turned to walk away, wanting to leave the conversation there and ignore the increasingly conflicting feelings he had towards Nathan. It was easier to think about him when he had been the epitome of evil, his view now clouded by the revelations about Nathan’s journey into their world. The hurts of his past didn’t give Nathan an excuse for the atrocities he had performed – far from it – but Percy could almost understand why he had been driven to complete his mother’s orders to the letter and more. Almost.

There could be no understanding Nathan’s decisions concerning Octavian.

“Percy?” The quiver of Nathan’s voice when he said his name made him look back over his shoulder.

“Yeah?” Percy raised an eyebrow. “I’m still not going to forgive you, if that’s what you want to hear.”

“No, I don’t want to hear that at all,” Nathan said hastily. “I just…”

“What?” Percy prompted after Nathan went silent.

“If I’d told you that night, do you think things could have been different?” Nathan asked. “Do you think that we could have been friends in a different life?”

Percy considered it for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he admitted truthfully. He continued towards the door before turning one final time, “I’d like to think that we could have been,  _ if  _ things were different.”

He walked out and didn’t look back.

At the end of the day, when faced with Janus and the choice of two paths, Nathaniel Mallory had chosen the one that had led them to their current situation. And Percy wasn’t sure how much would have been changed if Nathan had decided to walk the path of light. Forgiveness was a hard thing to think about when a person had done so much.

“You good?” Luke asked when he didn’t immediately speak to his Lieutenant.

“I think I just had a heart to heart with  _ Nathan _ ?” Percy admitted, letting Luke herd him towards the steps that would take them above deck. “I’ll tell you about it later though, he gave me some information that we should really spread first.”

Unbeknownst to the pair of them, there was a smile on Nathan’s face when the door closed behind Percy. His talk with the son of the sea god had been enough to convince him of where his true loyalties lay, of what he should do next.

Finally, he removed his hands from behind his back and stood up. He was glad that there were no witnesses to his satisfaction as he finally stretched his limbs, tense and slightly sore from the way he had been sitting.

Mind finally made up, he started to make his own way towards the door – leaving behind the cuffs that had been empty since the god of love had stopped by.

  
  



	61. The Beacons are Lit, Camp Half-Blood Calls For Aid.

Riptide was in his hand, gold swirling before his eyes – likely still damp to the touch.

Percy sighed and stared at the piece of paper in front of him, the words that he had written nonsensical and  _ wrong _ . There was no way to write a note that would inform your team of your unfortunate demise – even if Percy was still hoping he’d be destroying said note before any of them had to see it. He looked at it for a moment longer before scrunching up the note and tossing it into the bin by his desk with his other attempts.

He bit his lip at the sight of the blank sheet before him and wondered if it was some sort of sign that he  _ shouldn’t  _ leave a note.

Leaving a note seemed like he was admitting that he didn’t think he was coming back.

A knock on the door settled his decision to leave it for now; especially if it was a member of his team on the other side. He couldn’t exactly write such a note in front of them.

He dropped Riptide on the desk and stood, knowing that simply shouting to the person on the other side of the door wouldn’t work. 

And when he opened the door to find Apollo standing before him, he was genuinely a little surprised. He’d been expecting Luke.

“Oh, hey!” Percy smiled at him once he’d gotten over his surprise, swapping it for relief.

“Luke sent me to make sure you were awake in time for dinner,” Apollo’s returned smile was tentative and awkward. He looked tired, even more so than he had when Percy had left him after the incident with Orion.

“Just about,” Percy shrugged, wandering back into his room with the expectation that Apollo would follow as he continued talking. “If you’d come up half an hour ago, I’d still be asleep.”

When he turned, Apollo was still hovering in the doorway.

“You can come in if you want?” He found himself saying, a little unsure because he’d never had to  _ invite  _ Apollo in before. Not properly. “Or do we have to head down to dinner straight away?”

“No, no, we’ve got some time,” Apollo shuffled in, still looking uncertain as he pressed the door shut behind him. “Did you sleep alright?”

Percy thought back to the nap he’d managed to grab and sighed. “I didn’t want to wake up,” he admitted as he sat heavily on the edge of his bed. “I debated throwing my alarm across the room but I knew Luke would only drag me out of bed by the ankle and I didn’t want to run that risk. How about you, have you managed to get any rest?”

“I tried and failed,” Apollo responded absently.

Percy frowned. This wasn’t the Apollo he was used to. The Apollo that was always so easy to talk to, the Apollo that was always willing to share a smile. The Apollo that called him an array of nicknames that he pretended to hate when in reality they warmed his chest and made him feel like he was  _ wanted _ .

This was not the Apollo he was used to, the Apollo that he could dare to say was  _ his  _ Apollo.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, unable to stop himself. “We have time now, if you want to talk?”

Apollo sighed softly and managed a tired smile. “I can’t help but fear what comes this night,” he confessed. “And I can’t help but worry about you all. About you.”

Percy winced, knowing that he couldn’t reassure Apollo with false platitudes when they both knew that there was every reason to worry. And it would be pretty hypocritical of him to try and reassure Apollo when Percy was feeling the same way about him. He knew that their initial run-in with Kronos – the whole reason that Apollo had joined their team in the first place – was Apollo’s first true encounter with his grandfather. He didn’t know Apollo’s history with Gaia well enough to comment on that area; Styx, history had never been his strong suit.

“I’m worried as well,” Percy admitted. “I’d still be worried if the whole Council were here, but this? This is a nightmare.”

“I wish I could disagree with you but you’ve just hit the nail on the head,” Apollo groaned.

“Weren’t you declaring your hatred for that particular metaphor yesterday?” Percy couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease. 

“I only like it when I say it, Seashell,” Apollo huffed.

“I only like some things when you say them too,” Percy blurted out unthinkingly before cursing his traitorous mouth when he received a raised eyebrow in response. 

“Careful, Perseus,” Apollo commented mildly. “You may give a guy the wrong idea.”

Percy thought about laughing it off for a moment before he stopped himself, knowing for a split second that he didn’t know  _ what  _ idea he wanted Apollo to have. And just like every thought he’d had along that particular vein, he thrust it to the back of his mind and promised himself that he’d deal with it later.

“You’re right though,” Apollo spoke to fill the silence, hastily returning to their earlier topic. “This truly is a nightmare scenario.”

“I still can’t believe what Chaos did,” Percy admitted, almost wishing he had the courage to put his foot down and take their conversation down a wholly different track. “I just don’t understand  _ why  _ he did it.”

“You’ll get the opportunity to ask,” Apollo pointed out. “It just won’t be today.”

“Sometimes I think I’ll never understand him,” Percy spoke truthfully. “I just know he has  _ terrible  _ timing.”

“A lot of things in life do,” Apollo sighed. “I wish I’d known though, I would have kept hold of Hermes’ sword.”

“And you call yourself the god of prophecy,” Percy laughed before realising the more serious implications of Apollo’s words. “Wait, you’ve only got your bow?”

“I’ve got my bow and a few knives,” Apollo confessed. “It would be a simple matter to return and ask to borrow it once more, but Artemis implied that if I were to step foot on Olympus, I would not be allowed to leave again.”

Percy instinctively reached into his pocket, hand curling around the seemingly innocuous lighter that lay within. Passing over Riptide was out of the question, but he had two other swords at his disposal that he would be more than willing to cede into Apollo’s possession. And, given the choice, he knew that it was Stormbringer that would fit the god perfectly; the Imperial Gold blade a perfect twin to the weapon the god typically favoured. The only issue lay with the fact that it had failed to protect Leo when he had given over custody in the Labyrinth and he feared that it would be doomed to repeat in Apollo’s grip.

The weapon matched the gold of Apollo’s skin, the gold of Apollo’s hair, and the gold of Apollo’s heart. Stormbringer matched the current nature of Apollo’s eyes, swirling with the storm clouds that littered the sky above, and it matched the nature by which Apollo had come into Percy’s life. A sudden summer storm that he was wholly unprepared for.

Mind made up, he stood and withdrew the lighter from his pocket before taking a few small steps towards Apollo. He flicked the lighter, making Stormbringer spring to life in his hand. He pointed the blade downwards, shifting his grip on the hilt in the process so his thumb was resting over the pommel.

“I want you to have Stormbringer,” Percy took a step closer, offering his hand out to Apollo.

“Are you certain?” Apollo breathed, looking down at the sword between them for a moment before he looked back to Percy’s face so he could search his eyes for answers. “Seashell,  _ Perseus _ , are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more certain,” Percy assured him. 

“Stormbringer is a part of you,” Apollo frowned, still uncertain. “A  _ significant  _ part of you. Why would you want to gift such a part to me?”

“Because I care about what happens to you,” Percy responded truthfully. “There are very few people that I would entrust one of my swords to, but I am happy to gift Stormbringer to you.”

Apollo’s fingers curled around his but did not yet take Stormbringer from his grasp. “I could just borrow a sword from the armoury, you know?”

“I know,” Percy acknowledged. “But I’d rather you take this one, so I can hope it brings you more luck than it brought Leo. And where else would find a weapon that matches your bow at such short notice? Unless you planned to steal Jason’s sword, that is.”

“I don’t want to steal Jason’s sword,” Apollo smiled at him. “I’m more than happy to accept this one. If you’re certain about letting me have it?”

“I am,” Percy assured him once more and allowed Apollo to finally take it from his grasp. “Stormbringer is yours.”

“Thank you,” Apollo’s smile somehow managed to widen. He glanced down to examine the blade, shifting it so he had one hand on the hilt and one balancing the flat of the blade, before looking back up with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. “How does it transform back?”

“Here,” Percy wrapped his hand over Apollo’s and gently guided his thumb with his, pushing it over the crossguard where Stormbringer’s name was etched so it settled on the rainguard. Just like Riptide, there was a raised trident there. “When you want it to transform back, just press the trident and it’ll do so.”

He removed his hand from Apollo’s this time, allowing the god to transform the sword on his own accord. And when Apollo was standing there with just a lighter in his hand, he beamed at Percy.

“Thank you,” Apollo repeated. He slipped Stormbringer’s shrunken form into the pocket of his hoodie, one that made the corners of Percy’s mouth quirk upwards when he realised that it was  _ his _ . He’d given it to the god on their return journey to Camp, when Apollo was rushing between Nico, Eros, and Leo. Percy had seen him shivering and had taken the initiative to place it around his shoulders when his attention was fixed on Nico. “Y’know,” Apollo spoke, making him flinch out of his reverie. “If Stormbringer is to be a token of luck, I should be gifting something to you too.”

“Oh, no, it’s-”

“I insist,” Apollo cut him off. He reached up and hooked the golden chain of his hyacinth necklace with one finger, slowly drawing it out from beneath his shirt – revealing it inch by inch until the charm had been pulled forth. “Will you wear my necklace again, Perseus?”

Percy was speechless for a moment before he nodded. “It would be an honour, Apollo.”

“It is I that should feel honoured,” Apollo informed him before he carefully unclasped the chain and let it fall into his hand. They both stared at it for a second before Apollo lifted it by the undone hook and clasp, offering it out to Percy.

“I’m terrible with clasps,” Percy lied like Apollo hadn’t witnessed him undo it with ease on the night Will had been brought back. “Could you do it for me?”

Apollo simply raised an eyebrow but did not call him on the lie. 

“Do you want me to turn?” Percy asked, despite it going against his better judgement.

“Oh no,” Apollo assured him as he stepped closer. “I prefer to see your face, Seashell.”

Apollo wordlessly lifted the necklace up and let the charm fall against Percy’s chest before his arms coiled around Percy’s neck. They were so close that Percy could see the storm clouds shifting in Apollo’s irises and he absently wondered whether it meant they were shifting in Eros’ eyes too.

It was at that point that Nathan’s words from that morning hit him like a bolt of lightning and he was no longer able to force all of his treacherous thoughts to the back of his mind.

“Percy?” Apollo spoke his name softly and Percy was no longer able to deny that there was affection in the way the god spoke to him, affection that was different to the way he spoke to Nico, Will, and the rest of his Cabin. “Is everything okay in there,  _ darling _ ?”

The word was spoken in Greek, but Percy knew exactly what it meant.

“I thought I could ignore this until later,” Percy admitted, the softness in his tone equal to Apollo’s.

“Oh,” Apollo’s fingers brushed against the nape of his neck, hot against the coolness of Percy’s skin. “I thought perhaps it was best.”

“Like you said, a lot of things in life have terrible timing,” Percy sighed. “This isn’t how I pictured having this conversation.”

“Oh, so you  _ have  _ pictured this conversation?” Apollo asked, gentle laughter in his tone. “It did cross my mind that I would have to hire a skywriter and spell it out for you, but then I realised that I could just use the sun chariot and do it myself, but that plan was going to be on hand  _ after  _ this damned battle.” Apollo brushed his fingers against his skin again before allowing the clasped necklace to fall there, followed closely by clasped hands. “You’re right, though, we  _ do  _ have terrible timing.”

Percy wanted to groan and let his head fall against Apollo’s shoulder, but he managed a smile instead. And if the smile was more of a grimace, Apollo didn’t call him on it. “Perhaps we should delay this conversation,” he suggested, though the words pained him. He tore his eyes away from Apollo’s for just long enough to check the time before meeting them once more. “It’s not fair on either of us to start something we can’t finish right now.”

“I hate that you’re right,” Apollo sighed. “I don’t like to start things I know I cannot finish, not when they mean so much to me. And if I were to kiss you, I don’t think wild horses could drag me away. Not this night.”

“Promise me that you’ll find me after the battle?” Percy bit his lip. “Since we can’t do this now, not when we both have to show our faces at dinner.”

“Will my word prevent you from doing something stupidly self-sacrificial?” Apollo teased, though his words were like a bucket of cold water when Percy realised he hadn’t told the god anything of their plan.

“I mean,” he started, though it pained him to hold the secret to his heart and not tell Apollo of the risk. “I’ll try.”

“Try  _ hard _ ,” Apollo huffed. “Because I intend to collect on at least the promise of conversation.”

Emboldened by the words exchanged between them, Percy couldn’t resist placing a soft kiss on Apollo’s cheek, making the executive decision to avoid teasing the god about the blush that lay there when he was well aware that there was a twin one upon his own features. It was the best he could do in their current situation, not wanting to seal their promise on Apollo’s lips when he knew that such an act would not be fair to either of them.

Percy wanted to have an incentive to survive the night. He did not want their first kiss to feel like their last; no, he wanted it to be a memory he could cherish and associate with  _ happiness  _ instead of desperation and fear. It would be an injustice to them both if their current emotions tainted the memory.

“I will,” he promised, hoping beyond all hope that his promise was not an empty one.

The sounds and sight of the Pavilion meant that they had to untangle their hands and put a distance between them once more – one that they would have to wait until after the battle to bridge.

“Ready to give your rousing speech?” Apollo teased, the topic of conversation one that anyone would expect to hear between them.

“ _ Don’t _ ,” Percy groaned. “You don’t think they’ll actually be expecting to hear one, do you?”

“Sweetheart, they’ll  _ absolutely  _ be expecting to hear one,” Apollo laughed. “You saw how they all reacted to your big reveal yesterday, they’ve got their leader back.”

“Sweetheart is new,” Percy commented, knowing that he was probably blushing when he couldn’t afford to when they were seconds away from facing the rest of the world.

“Well, Baby Blue, it probably helps that I’ve called you everything but your name since you got back,” Apollo pointed out with a wink. “Nobody would bat an eyelid if they heard. And what can I say? Subtly has  _ never  _ been my strong suit.”

“You can say that again,” Percy laughed.

“You aren’t supposed to agree with me!” Apollo protested.

“Agree with you about what?” Nico asked, popping up between them.

“Zeus above!” Apollo yelped, flinching dramatically as Will’s cackle sounded from behind them. “Where did you come from?”

“We ran to catch up with you,” Nico informed them nonchalantly. “Figured we’d best step in when we realised it was you who got sent to wake Percy up – we all know how well that went last time.”

“I don’t,” Will inserted himself between them too, swift to slip his hand into Nico’s. Percy tried to ignore the small flare of jealousy in his chest, knowing that he and Apollo had separated for a reason. The two of them shouldn’t have even given in to that much contact in the first place. “What happened?”

“ _ Someone  _ was refusing to get out of bed so your dad took it upon himself to-” Nico started before stopping and reconsidering. “Y’know, I don’t know if you want to hear this.”

“You’ve caught my attention now, di Angelo,” Will huffed. “And you can’t talk about people refusing to get out of bed, I know damn well what you’re like.”

“We can’t all be morning people like you,  _ Miele _ ,” Nico retorted. 

“Oh look, we’re here!” Percy was quick to step in before they started bickering, gesturing to the Pavilion. “We should eat.”

“Well sweetheart, that  _ was _ the whole reason for coming here,” Apollo laughed. There was a challenge in his eyes, daring Percy to call him out on his blatant choice of endearment in front of their oblivious companions. 

“ _ Percy _ !” Luke yelled from where he and a few of the others had taken custody of the Poseidon Table, stopping him from issuing any type of retort to the sun god. “Are you joining us or what?”

Percy rolled his eyes and marched over to where his Lieutenant was grinning at him. “Nice choice in table,” he huffed on arrival, fighting all of his instincts to look behind him to see if Apollo and their two idiots were following.

“Triton insisted,” Icarus informed him from where he was sandwiched between said sea god and the god of love. “As did the rest of the Sea Squad. Said it was time to reclaim it from Nathan’s evil clutches.”

“Yeah, well, shift up a little bit,” Percy nudged Bellerophon’s shoulder with his elbow. “I want in on this ‘reclaiming’ thing.”

He slid onto the bench beside his brother, knocking their shoulders so he’d fall into Theseus and Luke in turn. He didn’t comment on the fact that Orion was sitting amongst the Hunters with Artemis by his side.

“Meanie,” Bellerophon shoved him back, just as Apollo sat down beside him.

“Careful, sweetheart,” Apollo didn’t shift an inch, simply steadying him. “Anyone would think you’re falling for me.”

Someone, somewhere on the table snorted and Percy could  _ feel  _ his face turning pink. All he got from Apollo was an amused smile.

“Pigs would fly first,” Percy managed to respond, giving the god an angelic smile.

“That hurts me here, Bluebell,” Apollo pouted and tapped his heart. 

“For the love of the gods, will the two of you stop staring into each other’s eyes for five minutes and  _ eat _ ?” Nico asked as he dumped two plates on the table, sliding one over to Percy as Will did the same for Apollo. “Some of us are trying to keep an appetite here.”

Even Apollo knew when to draw the line, softly snickering before they both thanked them for the food and did as Nico instructed. And if Apollo pressed their thighs close and linked their ankles together beneath the table, nobody had to know.

Percy regretted eating the minute his plate was clear, his stomach beginning to churn with nerves. He didn’t want this moment to end, didn’t want to have to walk away from this table where he was surrounded by family and friends and someone who could become something  _ more  _ and have to put on his armour and dive into the fight of his life. 

That’s what this was now, the biggest threat that they had ever faced and he wasn’t prepared to come out on the other side missing people he cared about. He wished that it had never come to this, that the Fates had blessed them with good fortune for once.

“Hey, Jackson!” Clarisse yelled from her table, attracting the attention of the tightly packed Pavilion. “Are we getting a speech or what?”

Percy groaned, ignoring the soft laughter from the god beside him.

“Yeah, come on Kelphead!” Thalia joined forces with Clarisse. “Where’s the rousing speech we all want to hear?”

“ _ Do not say I told you so _ ,” Percy hissed to Apollo before reluctantly untangling their ankles so he could stand. “Do I have to?” He raised his voice and looked beseechingly to Chiron.

“My dear boy, of  _ course  _ you have to!” Chiron insisted with a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye. “There’s no better person here to give one.”

“I will if you won’t,” Apollo threatened.

“ _ Fine _ ,” he groaned, knowing that if he allowed Apollo to stand and speak, he’d be asking Nico for tips on making the earth swallow him whole.

A few cheers went up and he winced, desperately scrambling for something inspirational to say. He’d never claimed to have a way with words, not in the way that would aid his current plight, and he was almost tempted to tug Apollo to his feet and utter the challenge ‘do your worst’. 

_ Almost _ .

Instead, he glanced at the god out of the corner of his eye and tried to bite back a smile when he remembered what Apollo had said that morning about the contents of his speech. He’d hate to say that the sun god was anything but  _ inspiring _ .

“This is a speech I never thought I’d have to make,” Percy started off by stating the obvious. “It’s also a speech I never  _ wanted  _ to make. When I returned to Camp Half-Blood, it felt like coming home. For the first time in five years, I stepped foot over the border and realised that the place I had left to find was the very place I had left behind me. My home.”

He could feel all of the eyes on him and he was beginning to become conscious of the fact that the sky above them was starting to dim.

“I know that many of you share the same sentiments that I do; Camp Half-Blood is home to you, or at the very least, a home away from home. For some of you, you have always known this home to be peaceful, while others have seen the way that war warped it several years ago. I hoped that war would never darken the doorstep of Camp Half-Blood again, but I was wrong,” Percy sighed. “And even though the beacons have metaphorically been lit and we have called for aid, we stand alone in this fight to defend _our_ home. Despite the fact that we are alone in this fight, it does not mean that we stand as individuals. We stand together, as one. We have each other and we share the same courage. A day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not _this_ day.”

He could see Apollo’s shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter out of the corner of his eye and decided to go all in.

“The board is set, the pieces are moving. We come to it at last, the great battle of our time. And, I hope, the  _ last  _ battle of our time,” Percy continued. “Our time has come, we face the same evil and we  _ will  _ defeat it. Together!”

Several cheers went up as he sat back down, knowing that he’d start laughing if he stayed standing for a moment longer.

Beside him, Apollo’s cheeks were wet with tears and the god had a hand pressed to his mouth, desperately trying to stop his laughter from escaping.

“I can’t believe you just stood there and quoted Lord of the Rings like your life depended on it,” Luke groaned.

“Blame Sunflower,” Percy jerked a thumb in Apollo’s direction. “It was his idea.”

“It was not!” Apollo hissed, finally uncovering his mouth. “By the gods, I can’t believe you actually just did that.”

“Neither can I,” Percy admitted, the fact that his speech was done and finished weighing upon him. He had been holding on to the idea that it was the last thing standing between their peace and the battle and could no longer hide behind it when it was over. The nerves were kicking in again and fear was curling around his heart. “I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

Standing at the crest of the hill did nothing to alleviate the swirling of his stomach, not when all they could do was stand and wait for the sun to finish its descent in the sky and for dusk to fall over them properly. 

War waited for no man, but they knew that they had to be ready for it.

Percy took solace in the fact he’d managed to convince the majority of the Campers to hold back until they knew what they would properly be dealing with; taking the stand on the hill with his team, their small council of godly support, Artemis’ Hunters, and those who had refused to be left behind. They were armed to the teeth and pretended to be ready, though they all knew that there was truly no amount of preparation that could be enough for what was to come.

He just wished that it had never come to this.

This was not supposed to be something that they had to face again, it wasn’t  _ fair  _ that they were having to face two enemies that were supposed to be banished to dust and dispersed by the winds. Then again, nothing about his life could have ever been classed as  _ fair _ .

He shook his head in an attempt to dispel the thoughts from his mind, focusing on making sure his vambraces were properly secured as a way of distraction. In an ideal world, he and his friends would have headed for the Amphitheatre after dinner, Austin and Kayla would have started the sing-along and he’d be able to sit half in Apollo’s lap without anyone batting an eyelid if he gave ‘I’m cold’ as his reasoning. Zeus, in an ideal world they would have actually been able to at least  _ talk  _ earlier.

Instead, it was as if they were stuck waiting in the Fields of Asphodel, held in eternal limbo.

“Pretty sure that vambrace is secure, Perce,” Luke commented, making Percy flinch. He hadn’t even noticed his own Lieutenant approach, too wrapped up in his own head to be aware of his own surroundings. It was less than ideal when they were about to fight the battle of their lives.

“I know,” Percy sighed and let his hands fall down to his sides. “I’m just so  _ sick  _ of waiting for something to happen.”

“We all are,” Luke soothed. “We all want this over with. Though you know what they say.”

“Be careful what you wish for?” Percy finished for him. “Yeah.”

They stood in silence for a moment, both pairs of eyes scanning the horizon once more. It seemed like a redundant task now; they all knew that something could happen any second and they were rightly prepared for it, all of them only a step or two away from where they should be. There was nothing more that could be done, not really.

It really was just a waiting game.

Percy wasn’t sure how much longer their wait lasted, the time between blurring together. It felt as though it had only been seconds between when he had last looked into the all-encompassing darkness that was the nearly-night sky to see nothing and when he had looked again to see  _ something _ .

He understood why they had chosen to wait until dusk.

It was hard to distinguish their enemy from the dark while they were still waiting for the moon to show from behind the clouds; clouds that had shrouded the sky from their eyes for most of the day, as if hung there unnaturally.

“My eyes aren’t deceiving me, are they?” He asked the group at large, already knowing the answer by the way their archers were all knocking arrows and looking to the horizon.

“They’re here,” Apollo responded simply, not looking over his shoulder to where Percy was standing. “Though it’s hard to tell  _ who  _ is here.”

“You can say that again,” Artemis agreed with him from where she stood at the other end of the line, the two gods flanking the rest of their numbers who held a preference for long-distance weaponry. “We need to get rid of these clouds somehow.”

“I’d be inclined to believe that Aeolus himself has something to do with this,” Apollo sounded somewhat bitter as the name of the Master of the Winds passed his lips. “His loyalties can be as fickle as the direction of the wind.”

Beside the sun god, Eros shifted uncomfortably. Percy internally debated the source of his discomfort, praying that the god wasn’t two minutes away from declaring himself unfit to fight. They’d had a hard enough time convincing Apollo that he shouldn’t be left in the woods to guard the Labyrinth in relative ‘safety’.

“I may have a solution?” Eros offered, though his voice was drowned in uncertainty. “Though I doubt you’ll like it, Apollo.”

“At this rate, I’d be happy with anything,” Apollo huffed. “Whatever it is, do it.”

“ _ Zephyrus _ ?” Eros spoke to the open air, words carried away on a sudden soft breeze that did not take Apollo’s sudden stream of colourful swearwords in the same way. Evidently, Apollo’s proclamation to be happy with  _ anything  _ didn’t quite extend to  _ this _ .

The air around them started to shimmer and swirl, spring blossoms settling around their feet as a final gust of wind from the west solidified into human form.

“I thought I’d never hear you call upon me again, Eros,” the new god greeted. Percy was going to make a wild guess and say that his name was Zephyrus. His eyes slid to Eros’ company and a flicker of fear crossed his face at the sight of Apollo. “And I never thought it would be with  _ this  _ particular company.”

“Believe me,” Apollo hissed. “The feeling is entirely mutual.”

“For the love of the gods,  _ now is not the time _ ,” Eros groaned. “Zephyrus, I apologise for my absence and I hope my temporary replacement has been treating you well. I wish I was calling upon you in better circumstances, but we need aid.”

“Aid  _ is _ what I am in your service for, Eros,” Zephyrus informed him dryly, the words sounding like they left his lips often.

“The clouds above, we need them shifted so the moon can break through and light the fields of war,” Eros responded. “Please?”

“Your wish is, as always, my command,” Zephyrus shrugged. He looked to the skies, eyes glowing brighter and whiter the longer he stared before there was a strong gust of wind from the west and he started to rise. His gaze snapped back down to Eros and a smile was painted across his face. “Allow me to deal with the Spirits of Storm holding the clouds in place and you shall have your moonlight.”

The god dissipated as fast as he had arrived, cherry blossom whisked away as a few clouds started to shift above them.

Moonlight broke through and the cries of anger from their opposition were audible from afar.

As was another sound, one that felt familiar to Percy’s ears – even if he couldn’t quite place it. His heart sank when he did, cursing himself for forgetting.

“Hey, Sweetheart!” Apollo called over his shoulder, smirk on his face as the clouds truly broke above them to reveal the Clazmonian Sow flying in the moonlight. “Looks like pigs  _ do  _ fly.”

If Percy had to pinpoint the exact moment that everything had gone to Tartarus, he would have picked that one. If he ever had to tell his life story, he’d tell them that the moment he knew they were in trouble was the same moment that the Thanksgiving Day Parade nightmare blimp with wings turned up in his life for the  _ second  _ time. And the description was still just as accurate this time around.

“Anyone got an army of statues that we can wake up and ask to attack that thing?” Percy asked with his eyes fixed firmly on the flying pig who was doing laps above the field they were preparing to fight on. He was conscious of the fact that the borders would steadily grow weaker and weaker as the night passed; they’d moved the Golden Fleece from Thalia’s Tree into the Infirmary where Will and the few others who were staying back to treat any injured could protect it, which was a risk that they’d been willing to take to stop it from falling into the wrong hands.

“Can’t say we have,” Annabeth laughed as she caught his reference. “You may have to settle for Blackjack and a lasso.”

“I’m sure we can come up with something better than that,” Percy responded, despite the fact he had no faith in the words he was saying.

“ _ Why’d you only visit me when the world is ending, boss _ ?” Blackjack asked as they soared into the sky less than ten minutes later. Monsters had flooded the field below them when they realised that they were no longer moving under the cover of darkness, but Percy was keeping his eyes on the sky and the winged terror that was the Clazmonian Sow. He’d worry about those below when they’d dealt with the flying Miss Piggy.

“Believe me,” Percy huffed, still unable to get over the fact that the sow hadn’t stayed in Tartarus with the boar of her dreams for as long as he’d hoped. “I hate this just as much as you do.”

“ _ What’s the plan _ ?” Blackjack posed a valid question that Percy had  _ mostly  _ thought through. “ _ Because I don’t see no statues to set on our old friend. _ ”

“Don’t worry, I have an idea!” Percy reassured him.

“ _ Boss, I  _ **_hate_ ** _ your ideas, _ ” Blackjack reminded him.

“I know!” Percy groaned. “Just fly in front of the pig! We need to distract it!”

Blackjack put in some token grumbling before he swooped into the path of the sow, Percy twisting slightly to look at the ungodly pink blob that was flying behind them. She was still just as monstrous as he remembered; thirty tons of squealing ham with wings, flesh as pink as a flamingo.

Percy would happily take a flock of fire-breathing flamingos over adult-Piglet on steroids.

“Hey!” He yelled, internally cursing himself for doing so. “Remember us?”

“REEEEEEET!” The pig squealed in response.

Percy wasn’t an expert in pig, but he was going to assume that she’d said ‘yes’ if the fact she was now following them intently was anything to go by.

“ _ I think that’s a yes, boss _ !” Blackjack agreed with him. “ _ What now? You gonna throw a spear or something at it _ ?”

Before Percy could answer, the familiar sound of creaking wings came into earshot and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to risk seeing how long they could keep the pig’s attention before she decided that causing havoc on the field below was a better idea than chasing a fellow farmyard favourite.

Blackjack would probably throw him to the pig himself if he knew that Percy had just compared them, so he kept that particular thought to himself.

“We’re the distraction!” He answered Blackjack.

“ _ Oh yeah, make the horse be the distraction _ !” Blackjack complained, kicking the sow in the snout when she came too close. “ _ You owe me doughnuts if we don’t get turned into pig chow, boss. _ ”

“Festus can finally repay Peleus for the sheep,” Leo yelled from his seat on Festus’ back as the metal dragon swooped into position behind the pig. “Sorry Peppa, you’re about to become bacon!”

Percy directed Blackjack to swoop down, not wanting to be barbequed in the same breath. He would have facepalmed at Leo’s words but he didn’t want to miss the sight of the Clazmonian Sow being engulfed in flame, pink skin becoming extra crispy.

If he made it to breakfast, he made a mental note to give any bacon a miss.

Apollo had intended to stay behind the border of Camp and shoot at the encroaching army for as long as possible before he realised that Percy would undoubtedly have Blackjack drop him directly into the fray when they finished dealing with the situation in the sky. It was that particular bout of motivation that had him draw Stormbringer for the first time and a smile crept onto his face as the blade transformed from its seemingly innocuous form into that of the sword Percy had entrusted to him.

“Are you planning to use that thing or check your reflection in it?” Luke yelled from where the demigod was decapitating a  _ Dracanae.  _ “Wait, is that-” he ducked an oncoming blow from one of the  _ Dracanae’s  _ angry sisters. “-Stormbringer?”

Apollo rolled his eyes at the demigod’s desire to gossip in their current situation and threw himself into the fray, quick to dispatch the  _ Dracanae  _ before she could take a chunk out of Luke.

“Well?” Luke pestered as Apollo himself had to duck.

“For the love of the gods, yes!” He yelled in response as he had to duck beneath the swing of an Empousa. He was fairly certain that she’d just tried to whack him over the head with her own metal leg, but he didn’t give her the opportunity to take a second swing. “I didn’t have a sword after I returned Big Herm’s to him.”

“Will you please-” Luke paused to stab a rather vicious Telekhine. “-stop calling my dad ‘Big Herm’?”

“I’ve been calling him what I want to call him for longer than you’ve been alive, Baby Herm! So shut it!” Apollo responded before his attention was swept away by the sight of Eros sprinting after a rather terrified looking Laistrygonian Giant.

Apollo narrowed his eyes at the rose tattoos on the monster’s bicep, connecting them to said tattooed giant that Eros alleged was one of his kidnappers.

“- **_king get back here so I can feed you your own toes and make you fall in love with your ankles, you bast_ ** -”

Apollo was going to say  _ yes _ , it was one of the giants who had a hand in his kidnapping if Eros’ foulmouthed yelling was anything to go by.

“Think we should help?” Luke asked, appearing suddenly by his elbow.

“I think he’s good,” Apollo nodded, unable to tear his eyes away even as he absentmindedly thrust Stormbringer through the chest of yet another  _ Dracanae _ .

The god of love had succeeded in catching up to the giant and was currently climbing the monster like a tree. A tree that was yelping and furiously trying to shake said god off as he swung himself up onto his shoulders and plunged a rather wicked looking sword directly into the top of its head.

“Wow,” Luke marvelled as Eros landed steadily on his feet, uncaringly stabbing a Telekhine that tried to rush at him before returning to brushing monster dust from his shoulders. “He seems angry.”

“Oh, he’s not angry,” Apollo informed him as they both plunged their swords into the same Empousa. “I think that’s just ‘mildly inconvenienced’ Eros.”

“Well,” Luke whistled. “I’d hate to see him when he was pissed off.”

Apollo lost track of that particular demigod shortly afterwards, carried away in different directions by the tide of monsters. It was easy to get lost in the repetitive motion of hacking and slashing his way through the field, allowing himself to consistently check the situation above without having to worry about being skewered.

His main concern, however, was the sheer lack of a commanding presence. He was yet to encounter a figure of authority in the never-ending stream of monsters and he was half tempted to shout out to Percy to pull him astride Blackjack so he could check from the skies the next time his demigod flew close.

From a distance he could see Aether facing off with a circle of giants, his old friend seemingly having the time of his life while whirling around like a miniature tornado, sweeping them down and turning them into piles of dust before they could attempt to relight their flaming bowling balls.

It was an easy choice to head in his direction, knowing that they had probably covered a wide swathe of the field between them. If anyone would have answers for him, it would be Aether.

Unfortunately, crossing a field of monsters was not exactly an  _ easy  _ task. It seemed every manner of beast and bother wanted to halt his progress, engaging him in too many fights for him to focus on his true goal. He sighed as he plunged his sword into another damned  _ Dracanae _ , resigning himself to accepting that he wouldn’t be able to ask for answers for some time.

Blackjack swooped low over the field for Percy, expertly dodging the stray spear and arrow that crossed their path.

“ _ Where d’you want me to set you, boss _ ?” Blackjack asked as Percy scanned the ground to see where he was needed most.

It was obvious that they were coping with the current onslaught, but anything more would mean that the rest of the Campers would have to enter the fray to assist. 

He could see Nico directing soldiers of bone with ease, shadows dancing and swirling around him as he took down all manner of monster. 

Achilles and Patroclus were hard to miss, fighting through the fray in tandem and leaving nothing but dust in their wake. They would be classed as a formidable pair under  _ normal  _ circumstances, but Achilles’ invincibility elevated them even higher up the food chain. Percy was just relieved that they were on his side.

Triton was hard to miss, facing Telekhines and Cyclops alike with the practiced ease of a god who had seen many a war. He seemed to be working in tandem with Theseus and Icarus, the three barely straying from formation as they worked their way through the onslaught. The god was using his trident and torrents of water to trap their targets, sending them to their deaths at the hands of the other two.

Bellerophon was swooping through the skies on Pegasus now that Kermit’s girlfriend was no longer a threat, raining down arrows from above with literal torrents of what could technically be classed as rain. If the steam radiating off said streams was any indication though, the water was scalding to the touch.

Finally, his gaze fell on the biggest threat on the field so far, currently unchallenged.

“Drop me close to the Hydra?” Percy asked, feeling a little apprehensive about facing such a large foe. This one was by far larger than any he had faced before; it made the one that he and Apollo had taken down on Kronos’ first trip to Camp look like a baby, albeit a very  _ mean  _ baby with multiple heads.

“ _ Your funeral, bossman _ !” Blackjack informed him cheerily before complying.

Percy landed steadily, Riptide already in hand. It was a wise move when he was rushed the moment his feet connected with the ground, almost bowled over by a snarling Telekhine. He steadied himself before using Riptide to cut through him like butter, absently wondering what had happened to his old friend with the Lil’ Demon’s Lunchbox.

He didn’t have much time to think about it though, attention fully on his new foe when he finally broke into the vicinity of the Hydra. It didn’t seem to care about the fact it was making mincemeat of its supposed allies; ploughing through a group of Empousai, sending metal and donkey legs in all directions as it made meals of their heads. 

There was acid flying from the two mouths in the centre of the beast’s nest of necks, both of them wearing familiar Monster Donut bibs. Percy groaned. He hated the ones who spat acid. He also knew that he couldn’t exactly deal with the damned thing alone.

He needed help and he didn’t know who was on hand to provide it.

Apollo’s heart had been in his mouth ever since he’d seen Percy tumble from Blackjack’s back close to the raging Hydra. He’d known from the moment he’d seen the thing that Percy would be headed straight for the biggest bad guy on the playing field; especially when Apollo was fairly certain that nobody else had managed to cross its path.

If Percy managed to get himself killed, Apollo was going to  _ successfully  _ pull an Orpheus so he could send Percy back to the Underworld himself. Perhaps in the form of a literal Bluebell.

He fought his way through the influx of monsters that dared cross his path before swiftly growing frustrated, feeling as though he was getting nowhere.

It took two seconds for him to make up his mind, looking around swiftly to make sure there weren’t any errant demigods before he closed his eyes with a grin on his face.

If anyone was to look into his eyes when he opened them again, all they’d see is sunlight.

Apollo began to glow, brighter and brighter before he extinguished the rays suddenly, leaving the surrounding monsters blinded and stumbling. He ran through them, dusting a few of them for good measure, before finally reaching Percy.

Percy had to stop himself from screaming when Apollo skidded into the small circle that was clear of monsters in the Hydra’s vicinity, instantly drawing the beast’s attention.

And when acid was spat at the sun god, he acted on sheer instinct. The acid stopped inches away from the flicker of fear on Apollo’s face, hovering steadily in the air for a few seconds before Percy sent it streaming back in the Hydra’s direction.

“Sweetheart, I think you just saved my face,” Apollo sounded slightly shell-shocked as he finally reached Percy’s side. In front of them, the Hydra was writhing in pain from the splash of acid across its chest, flesh burning and melting off in chunks.

Percy didn’t think he’d be able to stomach  _ any  _ breakfast when the night was through.

“It’s a very pretty face,” Percy couldn’t resist the compliment. “I’d hate to see it ruined.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, Bluebell,” Apollo beamed at him before gesturing to the Hydra. “Same plan as last time?”

“I decapitate it and you deal with cauterising the wounds?” Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Got it in one,” Apollo winked at him before exchanging Stormbringer for his bow once more. Percy couldn’t help but smile at the fluid ease with which Apollo handled his weapon. “We’re the dream team.”

Percy laughed before realising that they couldn’t rely on the Hydra’s concern for itself as a distraction any longer. He gave Apollo a soft smile before gesturing to the beast. “Shall we?”

Apollo couldn’t help but feel as though their fight with the Hydra was a case of déjà vu, just with a few added heads. And by a few, he meant that there were twelve of the damn things instead of the seemingly paltry seven that they’d dealt with the first time around.

“That felt like déjà vu,” he said as much to Percy as they plunged back into the fray together, many of the monsters trying to flee in the opposite direction after witnessing the way that they’d dealt with the Hydra together.

Percy simply laughed in response, looking the vision of one of the warriors that Apollo used to cross swords with on the fields of Ancient Greece. The moonlight above them made Percy’s hair shine in the darkness, his eyes a window to the waves that crashed upon the shore. There was a smear of blood on his cheek and monster dust coated his resplendent silver armour, but there was a smile on his face and it was aimed at him.

Apollo sorely wanted to kiss him, battle be damned.

“I agree!” Percy shouted over the severed head of a Telekhine and Apollo had to remind himself that he was merely agreeing with Apollo’s remark, not consenting to the god connecting their lips. Not yet. 

It was with great reluctance that he allowed the tide of battle to sweep them in opposite directions, wishing that he could stay in Percy’s vicinity for a while longer.

Though when pain blossomed in his rib cage and he was felled to the floor, he was almost relieved that Percy wasn’t there to witness it. He sucked in a sharp breath as he looked down to see that an arrow had found a weak spot in his armour, allowing it to hit home. It was nestled between two of his ribs, that much was obvious from the feeling of metal scraping bone each time he breathed, but the fact he was still breathing somewhat normally reassured him that it hadn’t managed to puncture a lung.

He’d be in a whole world of pain if that were the case. This, however, was something he could deal with.

It took a moment to work himself up to it, but he was swift to grit his teeth and yank it out again, discarding the ichor tipped arrow to the dust. The feeling of his flesh trying to knit itself back together was never a pleasant one, but he hoped that the process was quick as he tried to push himself back to his feet before any of the nearby enemies decided to take an opportunistic swipe while he was down.

“Here,” Orion was in front of him in the blink of an eye, offering him a hand up with reluctance written all over his face, “Let me help you.”

“Thanks,” Apollo tried to hide his surprise, but he doubted he did a very good job. Despite the revelation earlier that day, he figured that Orion would be one of the last people willing to aid him on that field. Zeus, Apollo would have bet on a few monsters being more willing to help him than the demigod who had previously thought that he was responsible for his death.

“Yeah, well,” Orion shrugged once he was on his feet again. “I’ve just found out that I’m not allowed to shoot you, or even threaten you anymore, so you can’t rub it in by getting shot around me. You’d upset your sister. And to my utmost displeasure, my little brother.”

“I’ll be sure to avoid arrows around you then,” Apollo assured him. 

“Though, if you hurt Percy…” Orion threatened. “You may find yourself shoved into the path of several.”

The demigod disappeared again with a familiar smile, just as swiftly as he arrived.

“Duly noted,” Apollo informed the empty air, knowing that Percy would find it hilarious when he told him. Well, after he got over the fact that Apollo was shot in the first place. He took a few steps towards the nearest Cyclops before he almost faltered in the swing of his sword when a sudden chill ran down his spine.

Kronos had arrived.

Luke was the one to spot him.

A cold chill had wracked through his body only moments before a path before him cleared and the Titan King appeared at the other end of it, scythe in hand.

Luke’s grip on his sword tightened, the still-unnamed weapon the only form of protection he had against a weapon he already knew the wrath of. He knew that it would be unwise to throw himself into this fight; the Prophecy that had been uttered during their absence foretold that it would be Percy who dealt the killing blow, but Luke was finding it hard to pass up the opportunity to spill some of the Titan’s blood himself.

“Well, well, well,” Kronos purred, his new form’s lips being pulled into a garish smile. “If it isn’t my former host.”

“Kronos,” Luke greeted through gritted teeth. “You’re looking a little more  _ put together  _ than I ever expected to see again.”

“You’re looking a little more  _ alive  _ than I expected, dear boy,” Kronos laughed. It was a disturbing sound, one that sent another chill down Luke’s spine. “Easily rectified though, I suppose.”

It was the only warning that Luke had before Kronos was swinging for him with the scythe, blade arcing through the air with the same grace and finesse that Luke himself used to handle the weapon with. The metal alloy gleamed in the moonlight, light dancing upon it as it missed Luke by inches as he simply stepped out of range.

“Come now,” Luke drawled. “You’ll have to do better than that.

Kronos released a noise of frustration and swung again, a blow that Luke easily deflected with the flat of his sword. He found himself wondering why the Titan didn’t just reform the scythe into a sword in the way he had when Percy had challenged him to a duel on Olympus.

After a few more blows that didn’t land, one finally did. He winced, expecting pain that never came. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that the Curse of Achilles had done its duty to protect him. And judging by the look on Kronos’ face, the Titan had not factored in the possibility that Luke was still a bearer of the curse.

Luke took the opportunity to swiftly disarm the man while he was momentarily distracted, the Scythe falling into his hands when he instinctively dropped his sword to catch it. It felt as though the whole world had silenced, the eyes of the field fixed upon them. The only thing that was audible was a sudden whistle of wind from the west, one that washed over the field and swirled up the layers of dust around their feet. When the dust settled, the silence returned.

It didn’t last.

Cries went up around them as monsters had to shield their eyes from the bright white light that emanated from Luke’s hand, from the scythe in his possession. He had to avert his own eyes for a moment as the light consumed every inch of Kronos’ weapon, only looking back when he felt an adjustment to his grip.

Backbiter was in his hand once more.

“ _ No _ !” Kronos cried out, fury obvious from his tone.

Luke couldn’t help but marvel at the sensation, slowly turning the blade in his grip. He was finally holding a sword that felt like it belonged to him again, a sword that had been taken and recast to suit its master in the same way Luke’s body had been. 

Kronos swept Luke’s discarded sword up from the ground, his anger plain to see. It was written all over the Titan’s face as he attempted to challenge Luke once more, but Luke felt  _ unstoppable _ .

“You can’t kill me, boy,” Kronos scoffed as Luke parried his old blade once more, the dance between them incapable of ending. “And I know your weak spot.”

“You’ll have to get to it first,” Luke pointed out, tearing a large gash in Kronos’ forearm. He stilled for a moment, not realising that the sword would connect when the one the Titan was now wielding had merely passed through the man with a shimmer of gold. “And I may not be able to kill you, but I know who can.”

“Perseus Jackson is long dead,” Kronos scoffed, though he was eyeing his arm warily. It was obvious that Backbiter had not torn his soul from his body in the way that it would have previously and Luke couldn’t help but wonder how much of the metal they had managed to salvage from the hearth on Olympus. It was the same sword, undoubtedly, but it was clear to the trained eye that the colouration was ever so slightly off – as if they’d had to compensate for missing materials by adding extra Celestial Bronze to the alloy. “And if he had risen from the dead, we would know.”

“You know,” Percy spoke conversationally from where he was standing a short distance behind Kronos. “Raising the dead is my brother’s area of expertise, not mine.” 

“Newsflash, asshole,” Luke laughed. “Percy Jackson never even left the land of the living.”

Kronos had stiffened at the sound of Percy’s voice, whirling around to face him with a snarl. “ _ You _ ,” he hissed. It was obvious that he was livid and Luke  _ revelled  _ in it. It was one of the sweetest sounds he had heard for a long time.

“Me,” Percy responded sweetly, giving Kronos a wicked smile. “Which is terrible news for you, I suppose. I’ve heard that I’m the only one who can send you back to the depths of Tartarus in which you belong. I’ve also heard that you were banking on me being too dead to follow through.”

“A minor inconvenience,” Kronos scoffed. “I’ll destroy you myself.”

Percy’s smile only widened. His eyes were trained on the sword in Kronos’ grasp and Luke couldn’t help but smile as well. They already had the Titan at an advantage, one that he was utterly unaware of.

Luke’s sword had been shattered into three pieces on one of their old missions and he’d refused to replace it, despite the lack of emotional attachment he had. Beckendorf had reforged the pieces and Luke had sworn it was as good as new, but he knew from experience that the two joins were far weaker than the rest of the blade. He’d always fought to compensate for it, but Kronos would be completely unaware of the hindrance. And Percy knew exactly where to aim for if he wanted to shatter it all over again.

After all, it was Percy who had broken it in the first place.

Though they’d neglected to mention that part to Beckendorf.

Kronos attacked first, placing Percy on the defence. 

Luke couldn’t bring himself to be concerned, not in the way as some of their audience. The battle around them had ceased, monster, god, and demigod alike all captivated by the confrontation. Apollo’s worry was written across his face like an open book, while Artemis’ was a careful mask. Triton was staring at his younger brother with wide eyes, Eros and Aether wearing matching expressions of dread by his side.

Percy swept around Kronos like a hurricane, moves well-practiced and as fluid as the sea. He was a marvel to watch and Luke didn’t envy Kronos for being on the wrong end of Riptide. It wouldn’t be the first time that Luke was glad he was free of the Titan’s possession and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but he couldn’t help but feel relieved that it wasn’t his form facing Percy this time around.

There was a deafening ring as Percy parried Kronos’ blade, catching it at just the right angle to shatter the weapon into three once more. Kronos was left staring at the jagged piece of bronze that protruded from the hilt, the main body of the sword falling into the dust below. 

It only took a few moments for Percy to force him to his knees, resting Riptide’s edge against the Titan King’s neck.

“You won’t win,” Kronos still laughed. “You know that, don’t you? You may have won this fight, but you won’t win this war. There’s still so much more to come for you.”

Percy stood over Kronos, expression calm. There was dried blood smeared on his cheek and he was covered in monster dust, but he was otherwise unharmed. It was only the slight slump to his shoulders and the look in his eyes that gave away the fact that he was tired. They all were.

With his free hand, he gestured for Luke to come forward. The Titan froze as Backbiter pressed against the other side of his neck, Percy not bothering to look down. He met Luke’s eyes and nodded. “Together.”

It was a simple word but it held so much weight.

They moved their blades together, Kronos’ head being separated from his shoulders by their combined strike. Luke was well aware that Riptide did most of the work, but the fact that he’d assisted allowed him to find relief in Kronos’ death – relief that he was deprived of the first time around when the Titan’s end had signalled Luke’s too.

Neither of them looked down until they had stepped away, Kronos’ body falling to rest in the dust below.

Golden ichor pooled from the separated pieces, seeping into the earth below. The Titan’s body began to shimmer and glow, but Luke couldn’t bring himself to avert his eyes. It exploded before them, reduced to ashes in the same way the rest of the monsters were, but the golden dust that Kronos had become did not settle. It burrowed itself into the dirt of the earth and sank from their gaze.

It was at that moment that their fragile peace was disturbed. The ground began to rumble beneath their feet, shaking and quaking in a wholly unnatural way. Across from him, Percy closed his eyes and whispered a small prayer to his father.

This was their endgame.

Despite the momentary exhilaration, Percy could only find despair in his heart as they regrouped on the crest of the hill. The sight before them was grim.

Where there was once dust and death, reanimated monsters stood. Percy could see the flailing heads of the Hydra and hear the sound of the Clazmonian Sow’s cries. They could no longer discern the line of the horizon, both land and sky filled with creatures from the abyss. The moon was drowned out by a cloud of Stymphalian Birds, leaving them standing in darkness once more.

It was too much.

Any hopes that Percy had formerly had for a win were extinguished like the skyline, shot down before they’d truly had a chance to rise. He’d known it would be a longshot, but he’d been quietly hoping for a miracle.

Now it seemed the only miracle they’d have would be the one orchestrated by his hand.

It was an easy decision to make in the end, especially when he looked down the line to see three solemn faces all nod in succession. They were in agreement; they wanted to use the spell  _ before  _ any unnecessary loss of life occurred, before they had to watch loved ones suffer needlessly when they had the power to prevent it.

So when the rest of their numbers ran forward to be lost in the fray once more, the four of them retreated back. Everyone was thankfully too distracted by what lay before them to realise that they’d moved back instead of forward, peeling away slowly to reconvene in the silent centre of Camp.

“You can go and say goodbye,” Percy nodded to the path that would take Nico to the Infirmary. “If you want, that is?”

“No,” Nico shook his head, though there was pain in his eyes. “Seeing him would change my mind and we can’t afford that right now.”

“Saying goodbye is an admission that we don’t think we’ll come out the other side,” Thalia reasoned, though she didn’t sound convinced by her own words. “And I’m sure we’ve all already said enough goodbyes.”

Percy couldn’t help but think of Apollo and the conversation he had promised him, hoping that he’d get to honour his promise at the end of the night.

“So we’re doing this then?” He found himself saying, looking to Nico and Thalia and then to Aether.

“We are,” Aether nodded, expression grave.

They shifted so they stood in the centre of the meadow, the Cabins looming shadows around them. Hestia’s hearth was still burning close by, but the goddess was not there to guard her flame. Not this time.

“How do we do this then?” Percy posed the question, looking to Aether for guidance.

The god gave him a gentle smile before a discoloured sheet of parchment appeared in the palm of his hand. “We’re all standing perfectly,” Aether informed them, gesturing to the ring that they had subconsciously formed. “We just need to join hands.”

Percy offered his left to Aether and his right to Nico once he had returned Riptide to his pocket. Aether joined hands with Thalia and she grabbed hold of Nico’s with a roll of the eyes when Nico awkwardly held his free hand out to her. The parchment floated in front of Aether, suspended by his magics so he could still read the incantation.

“Ready?” Aether asked gently.

They all nodded, none of them able to speak.

“ _ Children of the Ancient Gods, _

_ Join hands together to break all odds, _ ”

Percy squeezed Nico’s hand reassuringly, giving Thalia a weak smile when he caught her eye.

“ _ One born from the Underworld, a spawn of the sea, _ ”

Shadows and seawater started to swirl around their feet, pace quickening with each word that left Aether’s lips.

“ _ A child of lightning shall make three, _ ”

Lightning sparked within the shadows and sea, bright flashes of white that would likely blind any onlooker.

“ _ Use Primordial power to unite thee _ .”

The wind carrying their associated elements picked up as golden light began to weave its way through the shadows, darkness and light combining effortlessly.

“ _ Draw upon the essence of Earth and Sky, _ ”

Percy flinched as a hand clamped itself around his elbow, eyes widening when he twisted his head to see Nathan stood there. His hands were firm around Percy and Nico’s arms, grip unwavering. Percy panicked for several long seconds, thinking that Nathan was going to tear their hold apart and break the spell, but he gave Percy a rueful smile and didn’t move a muscle.

“Eros needs to keep better track of where he drops his hair clips!” Nathan informed him, having to yell to be heard. “I want to help!”

“Are you stupid?” Percy yelled back. “This could kill you!”

It was the first time he had acknowledged the possibility aloud and he winced, wishing he could take it back and unsay the words.

“I know,” Nathan responded, a relieved smile on his face. “I’d get to see Tav again. That’s all I care about.”

Aether simply nodded in response when Percy looked to him for guidance, pointedly looking to where their elements were swirling as one. Earth was among them, the circle awkwardly bending to include Nathan.

“ _ Close thy eyes when the end is nigh _ .”

Aether continued to speak as a final acceptance of Nathan’s presence, so it was his lead that they followed when the god looked to the sky and closed his eyes.

“ _ Intertwined hero’s breath, _ ”

Somehow, above the rest of the noise, Percy could hear them all breathing as one.

“ _ Will save the world from certain death. _ ”

It took a moment for the pain to register, five sets of eyes flaring open. The four in the circle were unseeing, with the fifth pair barely managing to focus on the clouds above. Around them, their combined elements circled higher and higher until they were level with the rooftops, before the spell flared outwards and raced towards the borders of Camp.

On the battlefield, their allies were mystified when a wave of energy burst through the field, with each enemy it touched disintegrating before their very eyes. It was indiscriminate with who it took, tearing down Gaia’s giant children and ordinary monsters alike with practiced ease.

When it reached the Earth Mother herself, it tore the goddess away from the sun god that she had pinned to the ground and threw her up into the skies. Apollo blinked for a moment, slightly dazed, before she exploded into a shower of dirt. He was quick to shield his eyes as the particles began to rain down upon him after a shout from his sister, confusion overwhelming him when he realised that the wave of power had simply washed through him with the gentleness of a lover’s caress.

Gaia’s forces were decimated in an instant and it seemed like a miracle.

Nobody on the field was foolish enough to think it was.

In the middle of the meadow in the centre of the Cabins, four bodies lay still. The fifth had managed to conjure up enough strength to take his form through to the tunnel of the Labyrinth that lay below, not wanting to be found within the borders of Camp and completely unaware of the cost that the others had paid.

Perhaps, if he had realised, he would have stayed to explain what he had witnessed, and the nature of the spell in which he had been a late participant.

In the same way that Luke had been the first to spot their true enemy, the son of Hermes was the first to connect the dots when they had realised who was absent from the field of war. He’d been quick to realise that he had not stumbled on an ordinary meeting when he had burst into Percy’s bedroom the night before, but a meeting in which the four missing persons had likely been conspiring to create whatever plan that had just saved their lives.

The question at that point was  _ where  _ the four of them could be, but the gods amongst them had been swift to direct them to one of the epicentres of power within the borders of Camp Half-Blood. They’d only had to follow the god of the sun when he had started running, Percy’s name on his lips.

They arrived in the moonlit meadow at the same time as the Olympian Council, the sudden flare of old magic and Hestia’s insistence that there was an issue close to her hearth having driven them there. Silence reigned as they stared at the four fallen bodies, torn by several anguished cries when they reached a collective realisation.

None of them were breathing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be working my way through uploading all of the chapters already up on Wattpad before matching my posting schedule.


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